Untried Guardians
by Sqweakie the Wonder Mouse
Summary: They called The Guardians to fight Voldemort...they just didn't expect them! Snape's never gonna be the same. A Crossover AU after HP Year 4 and after the Shichinin-tai Story Arc. THIS IS NOT A DEAD STORY
1. Infuriating

**Untried Guardians  
**By Sqweakie the Wonder Mouse

Crossover with Harry potter and Inuyasha  
HP: AU after book four (Harry and company's fifth year)  
IY: AU set at least after the Shichinin-tai Story Arc

Rating: PG-13  
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Inuyasha. They are owned by people with a lot more talent (and money) than me. sigh

AN: Just a quick change in Kagome's friends names, otherwise everything is the same. 

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**Chapter 1-Infuriating**

_Infuriating-extremely annoying or displeasing_

Adjectives always added a new dimension, a greater definition to anything that they were applied to. A woman in a dress seemed more beautiful when words like 'pearly blue' or 'stunning' were applied to the dress or its wearer. 'Luscious' plants were always better than plain old plants and salt could be given greater meaning when used with 'fine.' Even people could be described to a greater detail if adjectives were used. Such adjectives such as 'stubborn', 'idiotic' and 'pain-in-the-ass' were very appropriate when talking about her companion, and he had his own list describing her, and he voiced it quite verbally.

"You are such an infuriating wench! Move out of the way. I've got a job to do and it doesn't include standing around and listening to your pointless babble. I'm going back NOW!" He tried to push past her unmovable form, his dark hair shielding them both from the predawn light. He was so close that any mortal girl would feel flushed and nervous, but, she wasn't any ordinary girl.

"I don't care Inuyasha. You're still in your human form so you are still vulnerable." She countered from her less than advantageous position with her back to the well house. She lost a little more of that advantage as he leaned even closer and deliberately rested his hand and weight on either side of her head, trapping her between the well house door and his own body.

"Move, Kagome." Her breath caught in her chest, hearing her name whispered from his lips. It was a deliberate act when he spoke her name like that, a verbal conformation of her presence. And she knew that he knew how it affected her. How she would listen to him when he used it. It was a rarely used tactic that he utilized when she needed just a little push to do whatever he wanted.

Yesterday she had thought that having Inuyasha stay in her era during the new moon would be a good idea. The two of them had planned this little trip the day after the previous new moon. The last moonless night had been interrupted by an attack around two in the morning. A group of beetle youkai swarmed their camp, attracted by Kagome's Jewel Shards. The remainder of the night they spent extermination the bugs and only daybreak and Inuyasha's claws ended the fight.

This new moon she and Inuyasha spent the entire night safely in the modern Tokyo. She had warned her mother ahead of time, who in turn stocked up on instant ramen. She also asked her mother to buy some modern clothes for her half-demon friend to wear. She had feared that some of her friends would stop by and it would have been hard to explain the oddly dressed teenage boy in her house.

Her mother had bought the clothes under protest. She didn't think that Inuyasha would have to worry about strangers come to the shrine that night. Kagome's fears were unfortunately correct when, after dinner, Yuma, Eri, and Ayuki had stopped by to check on her. She had answered the door because Mrs. Kento was suppose to dropping off Souta from soccer practice at any time. Instead of the older woman, her three school friends had been waiting at the door.

At first her pale face and uneven breathing had convinced them that she was really sick and that they should go home and let her rest butm, like everything else in her life, it got worse. Just as they were going to leave Inuyasha (in human form) came around the corner clad in a loose red t-shirt and jeans that he looked way too good in. He walked right up behind her and loosely wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back to lean against his chest. A bright blush colored her cheeks and, to her embarrassment, she could feel the muscles hidden by his clothes.

Then he whispered in her ear.

"You're supposed to be lying down. You're still sick, remember." She almost lost it. She didn't know if she should be pissed at him for pulling a stunt like this and showing up in front of her friends or if she should dig a hole in the ground and hide forever. She couldn't decide so she just leaned against him harder and nodded weakly. He smiled at her, the bastard, and scooped her up bridal style to carry her back into the living room.

Her mortification didn't end there as he laid her down and covered her with a nearby blanket. He tucked her in and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. "I'll be in the kitchen, helping your mom clean up, alright?"

She nodded, still unable to speak coherently. Her friends had followed him in and they too were speechless. The silence covered the room as her friend's surprised faces turned towards her. By group consensus that was carefully developed by close friends, they decided to keep it short.

"Was that. . ."

"Yes"

"And he just. . ."

"Yes"

"Have you, you know"

"No!"

"Well it looks like you are in good hands."

"Very good looking hands."

"Yuma!"

Her friends had left not that long after that. She didn't know if their thoughts were she needed her rest or if she needed time with her guy friend but they left just the same. After the front door closed, Inuyasha made his appearance. On of his rare smiles graced his face, a smile that turned into a smirk at seeing her embarrassed expression. The same smirk that was on his face right now as his expertly pinned her to the well house door just before sunrise.

"I'm not going to move," she tried to convince him (and herself). She tried to hold on to the present goal of keeping Inuyasha in the present and trying not to think of what he did to her last night or how we was standing over her right now still wearing the same shirt and jeans as last night. Her eyes widened as he leaned closer, their noses almost touching.

"I can always make you move," he breathed across her lips. She looked at his eyes, their gray color blending with his dark pupils, looking. . . there was no way to describe how he looked. She was slipping, her resolve failing. She was about to move and he knew it

"Shit."

His grin widened. He probably felt the curse more than heard it but it was enough to know that he had won. "Did you just swear, Kagome?" He was a hairsbreadth from her, gloating over his victory.

"I said 'Shit' you jerk." She glared at him, fire burning in her own dark eyes.

She never heard his response as an explosion tore the quiet morning hours of Tokyo. Instinct took over as Inuyasha pulled her to him and they both dropped to their knees on the ground. Kagome felt aftershocks shake the ground so she held on tighter to Inuyasha. As the ground continued to shake, she felt something else, kind of like when she sensed jewel shards but not the same. It was a tingling sensation that started on her skin and worked its way deeper, electrified the cells of her body. As the new feeling spread, she lost track of the rest of sensations around her. She could no longer feel the ground shake under her knees nor feel Inuyasha's warm arms wrapped around her that were stopping her from falling.

She looked up at him and saw him wince with pain. She winced herself as she felt pain wash through her own body. She opened her eyes one more time, witnessing her name fall out of Inuyasha's lips, before her body exploded, scattering light across the ground, leaving nothing of herself or of Inuyasha behind.

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END

AN2: Thanks to kirei kitty and Soramiko for the names.


	2. Innocent

**Untried Guardians  
**By Sqweakie the Wonder Mouse

Crossover with Harry potter and Inuyasha  
HP: AU after book four  
IY: AU set at least after the Shichinin-tai Story Arc

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Inuyasha. They are owned by people with a lot more talent (and money) than me. sigh

AN1: Thanks to Nox and kirei kitty for reviewing and special thanks to kirei for the names. 

AN2: This is a rough idea of how Myrtle's Bathroom is set up. I based it on the movie bathroom with some small changes. Think of the room as a large straight room with different levels (like a loft apartment) with the chamber close to the door and the toilets on the high platform on the far end by the two stain glass windows.

AN3: I also kind of borrowed some of the ideas from the show "Charmed". It is not going to be a crossover with that show but it will provide some influences and inspiration for this story and I do not own Charmed either.

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**Chapter 2- Innocent**

_Innocent-1.uncorrupted by evil, malice, or wrongdoing; sinnless; untainted; pure  
2. not guilty of a specific crime  
3. not dangerous or harmful  
4. not experienced or worldly; lacking maturity; credulous; naive_

"Come on, Ron. Harry and Ginny already agreed." 

"So just because Harry agreed, I'm supposed to go along with it. If I remember correctly, you found that book in Knockturn Alley, didn't you Hermione?"

"The _outskirts_ of Knockturn Alley, from a reputable business."

"But still close enough and it doesn't sound like a safe spell. Hey, why don't you ask Neville to help?"

"I already did." A suffered look passed across her face. "He said that it was Trevor's bath night."

"He probably didn't want to lose his ears like Dean did."

"It was only one time and they grew back after a couple of days."

"Exactly. You don't know what's gonna happen when you cast this spell and old spells like this one have a lot more consequences that today's magic. Stop being so pushy and leave me alone."

"Please Ron. We need four people to act as the four points of the compass for the spell and another girl won't work because there are already two of us and you need a man for the final point."

"So go find a 'man' for you stupid spell."

"I tried. No one else will do it and we have to do it tonight or else we'll have to wait until next summer."

"Why tonight?" a note of defeat in his voice.

"It has to be done tonight because this is a new moon and this is the last time this year when Dragonisce Bushes can bloom. Harry is out in the forest right now picking the blossoms before sunset. Please Ron. You have to help us."

"I'm going to regret this, aren't I?"

"No, I promise."

She grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the haven of their common room. She led him down the stairs all the way to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. A small sign tacked on the door proclaimed it to be Myrtle's Death Day Party, a sure way of keeping any sane person out of the general vicinity. Hermione went inside but Ron hung out just outside the door.

"So how did you convince Myrtle to let you practice magic in her bathroom since you almost blew up her favorite toilet last time," he asked as she pushed him inside.

"Honestly, I have one little potion go wrong you guys have to bring it up any chance you get?"

"Well, Dean did lose his ears, Myrtle almost lost her toilet and the look on McGonagall's face was great."

"I was only helping Dean with his potions homework. I didn't know Peeves would show up and throw dragon dung into the cauldron."

"So, again. How did you convince Myrtle?"

"She had me banish Peeves from her bathroom and as long as no one looses any more body parts I can practice magic here."

"Including ancient spells that could result in dangerous consequences for the castor and general vicinity?"

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her." She pulled him into the bathroom and pushed the door closed and bent down to take off her shoes and socks. While he was waiting, Ron looked around at the cleaned up bathroom. The last time he had been here he was witness to the destruction that a failed portion could do on a girl's bathroom. The broken mirrors and windows had been replaced and scorch marks scrubbed from the walls. Fresh paint was seen in patches everywhere else, at least where there were no stone walls.

Ron stepped off the platform by the door and felt cold water rise above his shoes. "What the hell!"

"I already set up everything for tonight. The spell called for a shallow pool fed by eleven waterfalls."

"So eleven over-flowing sinks and a flooded bathroom counts?" he bit back.

"OK. So the book really suggested overflowing water buckets in place of waterfalls but I figure that this is close enough."

"You're the witch" A cold glare shut him up quick.

Hermione continued on. "The next part says to build a fire on a stone above the waterfalls and this is supposed to act as a beacon to call the Guardians. So, we built a fire on the stone pediment covering the Chamber of Secrets."

"Who are the Guardians?"

"The Guardians are the beings that we are calling. They care for the weak and children and they protect against the 'perversions of nature' and the like."

"Beings? They might not be human?"

"I'm not exactly sure."

"That's comforting."

"Don't worry. The spell has built in measures in case the guardians object to being pulled away from wherever they are."

"Again, comforting Hermione."

"If we could get back to the spell. . ." Ron nodded and she continued. "The fire is the entrance point. North of the fire is a 'pool that does not overflow."

"The broken sink?"

"Exactly. This is an opening for the fire and the Guardians to fall and enter our circle." Hermione led Ron around the circle of sinks and up the low steps to the dry platform that the toilet stalls rested on. Ginny was crouched in the open space between the two rows of stalls drawing on the floor with a piece of white chalk. "The spell leads here where the Guardians will appear. The incantations written on the floor complete the spell and channel and contain any excess magic and energy."

"Anything else I should know about?" he asked.

"Well, I'll be chanting a lot and adding the ingredients into a large basin that is sitting on the table under the windows. You, Ginny and Harry will be acting as anchors and provide the energy needed to cast the spell."

"And how long is this going to take," Ron asked with a note of worry.

"It really doesn't say."

"I'm out if it takes more than three days," he joked.

"Fair enough. All we have left to do is touch up the incantations and wait for Harry to bring the flowers here, and then we can get started. The way the spell is set up Ginny will stand to the south holding a clay bowl filled with dirt. You will stand in the 'west' position with 'empty hands'. Harry will stand across from you to the east holding a 'battle cut' sword. I will stand to the north and I will take care of the rest."

"So this is set up kinda like a wiccan potion slash spell, with a lot of focus on the elements."

"Yeah, earth, water, fire, metal and air," she said, surprised. "You actually paid attention in Potions for once?"

"You would too if Snape threatened to make you prepare and explain a wiccan potion in front of the entire class. Look what he did to Lavender when she wouldn't shut up about her Divination homework. She still can't look any of the third years in the eye after her 'demonstration detention disaster.'"

"Alright, I understand. I guess you would have to start absorbing information that doesn't pertain to quidditch sometime."

"Yeah, yeah. So is there any particular reason we are split up in to these particular compass directions?"

"Yes. The way the spell is set up the 'earth' has to be held by a mother, woman that may one day become a mother, or a father that already had kids. Since I have to be opposite of her (being the other female) I take the north position and I direct the fire that is on the table in front of me. My back will be to the rest of you while I add the ingredients and chant and the rest of you will face the center. In ideal situations this would be a five-person spell but since we do not have any 'sexless' beings wandering Hogwarts the book offers up an alternative layout that uses only four people and a more dynamic setup that gives water, the element no one is holding, more power and compensates for the missing person. By creating the eleven waterfalls and more incantations that were writtin on the floor underwater, the power created is provided a direction to follow.

"The remaining two elements are air and metal. Metal is Harry's department. We managed to get a hold of the sword he used in second year to kill the basilisk. Now the exact wording in the book is 'battle-cut blade' which is referring to a sword damaged during a fight. There is a knick in the blade almost ten centimeters from the tip and since the spell calls for the 'wielder of the blade' to hold the sword during the spell so Harry does that.

"The last element, air, is yours. The position is usually held by a child but and older 'innocent' can also hold the place. You stand with your hands empty, proclaiming you as a non-combatant. You have not taken a life, nor have you witnessed death which is the primary definition of an 'innocent' in the book. I was there when my grandmother passed away and Ginny killed Hagrid's roosters her first year. We need Harry to hold the sword so that leaves you as the 'innocent'.

"The official names of our positions in the spell are 'The Sorceress', 'The Mother', 'The Warrior', and 'The Innocent.' We will mark the names on our foreheads and then. . . "

Ron, who had just been nodding occasionally during her long speech suddenly, looked at her. "Mark! You didn't mention anything about marking!"

"Relax, Ron. We are only using chalk, it will wash away when it's done."

"If the spell doesn't brand it into our skull first. I don't want to go through life with 'Innocent' tattooed on my forehead."

"Hey, it's better than having 'Mother' written on _your_ forehead!" yelled Ginny. "And Harry's back."

"And my feet are soaked, again!" Harry called out as he slogged through the bathroom pool.

"Did you get enough!" Hermione asked eagerly.

"Twenty-eight bundles from twenty-eight different bushes," he started to recite. "Twenty-seven blooming flowers for the nights of the moon and one of just leaves for the night the moon sleeps and does not shine."

"Thank you, Harry. Are you done Ginny?"

"Just finished."

"Seven-sixteen and the sun was setting as I was walking back." Harry replied with as much excitement as Ginny, none.

"I want every one to take off your shoes and socks and set them by the door," Hermione ordered. "Then stand in their place around the center of the circle. Once everyone is in place we will start."

Ron, Ginny and Harry walked back to the bathroom door and carefully placed their wet shoes (and socks) in a row next to Hermione's. Ginny walked back around the sinks right away. Once she was out of view Ron stopped Harry before he could follow.

"Should we really be doing this? I mean, we aren't even out of school yet. We could be in a lot of trouble when the teachers find out."

"It's too late. Hermione is set on doing this and I think we're doing the right thing." He shrugged Ron's hand off his shoulder and walked back to the dry platform where the four of them would perform one of the most dangerous magical spells attempted in fifty years at Hogwarts.

And Ron was scared. What the hell were they going to do.

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END


	3. Illuminate

**Untried Guardians  
**By Sqweakie the Wonder Mouse

Crossover with Harry Potter and Inuyasha  
HP: AU after book four (HP and company are in their 5th year)  
IY: AU set at least after the Shichinin-tai Story Arc 

Rating: PG-13  
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Inuyasha. They are owned by people with a lot more talent (and money) than me. Sigh

AN: OMG. WOW, I didn't expect such a response so soon . Oh gosh. Did a happy dance when I checked my email :D 

Stinky-chan, AnimeDutchess, Tears-of-the-moon-goddess, What a scene, sesshoumaru-sama: Thank you _so_ much for your support :)

Key17- Harry and the Gang are in their 5th year. I hated the last book so I started over. No Umbridge and Sirius still lives! And about Kag and Inu, I can't tell. . . yet ;)

Nox-Thanx again!

AN2: Bad news is that this is a short chapter, it probably should have been included with chappy 2. Oh well, hindsight is twenty-twenty. Good news is that it's good and the next one I'm working on is going to be really good (in my humble and unasked for opinion). I have more work for the next chapter but in the mean time I present Chapter 3 (and it isn't a conspiracy, I don't mean to pick words that start with "I", it just happens). 

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**Chapter 3- Illuminate**

_Illuminate- 1. To provide or brighten with light.  
2. To decorate or hang with lights.  
3. To make understandable; clarify  
4. To enlighten intellectually or spiritually; enable to understand._

Myrtle's bathroom was not your average bathroom, not that anything was 'average' at Hogwarts. The first half of the room was set lower than the hallway outside. A person walking thru the doorway stood on a half-circle platform that dropped off about six feet from the doorway. The lower floor stretched away from the door and it was dominated by the circle of sinks. The sinks were ordinary by themselves but behind their numbers they hid the entrance of the Chamber of Secrets. On the far side of the sinks, opposite the door, two low steps led to a higher platform where the toilet stalls were. Five toilets stood to the left and five stood to the right, leaving an open space over twelve feet across. The far wall contained two huge stain glass windows that let colored light illuminate the far parts of the bathroom during the day.

Dean and Hermione's failed potion damaged little of the permanent fixtures of the room but for the spell Hermione added a lot of things. The pool filling the lowest floor completely covered the low steps to the toilets and almost covered the platform by the door. White chalk decorated almost every stone surface available, including the occasional wall. A long table had been set up beneath the stain glass windows and three large basins had been placed upon it. The two end bowls were filled with charcoal and a slow fire burned in each bowl. The middle bowl was oval-shaped and larger than the other two. It was empty right now but a small table off to the side was full of ingredients that were just right for gray wiccan spell.

Gray spells was an old term that was still used in wiccan culture. It referred to a spell that was neither good, nor evil. The effects of the spell had the ability to help either side of a conflict. Simple spells ere often mistakenly referred to as gray spells but what made a gray spell special was the ability to affect entire battles, entire wars with one casting.

Without a doubt, Hermione's spell fell into this gray area. The spell was cast to call a pair of Guardians to the circle delineated by the chalk lined on the bathroom floor. The spell brought the Guardians with little warning to the circle and left them unable to fight the castors. The official gray area came in once the spell was finished being cast. The Guardians were helpless, leaving them vulnerable to slaughter or they had to be protected until the time of their weakness had passed, or so Hermione said.

Ron was standing in the 'west' position. Harry was directly across from him, standing with Gryffindor's Sword balanced on the upturned palms of his hands. To Ron's right stood his sister, Ginny. While Harry looked clam, Ginny was looking nervous and a little dirty. Brown dirt had been smudged across her cheeks making the chalk-white runes stand out on her forehead. Similar chalk had been used to write the runes for 'innocent' across his own forehead. It itched and sweat stun his eyes but he didn't dare wipe his face, fearing the wrath of Hermione.

Hermione looked at her fellow wizards one more time before she turned around and started the spell. To Ron, it was a lot of chanting in Latin, more than what was usually required for the spells they learned in school. With painful slowness Hermione added the flowers from the basket that Harry brought them in. Then the other ingredients were carefully added, ingredients which ranged from simple herbs to unicorn hair and rare dragon's tears that steamed when added to everything else in the basin.

Ron wasn't sure when it started. The atmosphere in the bathroom changed, actually it was more like the air was being charged. Electricity built up in the air and the hairs on his arms stood on end. Harry and Ginny started to look around, alerted to the changes.

A light flickered outside the darkened stain glass windows, sending a small ray of green light into the dim bathroom. The bathroom was only illuminated by the two small bowls of fire on the table and the larger fire on top of the Chamber's Pediment. The low light made the outside lights more visible.

A second light joined the first, adding on an amber hue to the first green. More lights appeared outside until the stain glass windows glowed, showing the medieval forest depicted in the most perfection that it had been seen in since its creation. The light grew brighter still, raising to a new intensity as the interior of the bathroom shone like midday with light.

Ron shielded his eyes with his left arm but every one else bore the full intensity of the light. Harry and Ginny couldn't protect themselves because their hands were full and they were unable to drop their burdens and Hermione stubbornly refused to look away from the windows. With his arm raised, Ron missed the first gem of light to pass thru the lead glass. In fact, he missed the first dozen or so but finally he noticed the fain glow overtaking the colored light from the outside.

He turned his head to the right, the source of the new light, and gasped. Little witch lights spun around the fire on top of the Chamber of Secrets. More joined those first pioneers that braved the glass and the dark inside. The colored light dimmed and lights continued to join the inside fire that was the beacon of their spell. Shadows shifted direction as the dominant light shifted inside and abandoned the outdoor freedom. Finally, the last lights joined their brothers and circled around the fire.

The lights around the fire high above their heads spun so fast that they looked like long-tailed comets or clear ribbons of light. The air gave a resounding CRACK that Ron felt through the stones under his bare feet. The lights stopped and hung in the air, pausing as if taking a breath and then they dove like a waterfall sculpted out of light. The light-water fell over the broken sink and swirled around Ginny until they took up their dance rushing around the inside of their magic circle outlined by the four students and an army of chalk incantations.

Hermione's voice broke over the sounds of falling water and of the light (if it was the light that was making that wind-like noise that undercut the water sounds) but her voice carried over the noise, chanting grew louder and the chanting turned into shouting in Archaic Latin. The lights spun faster forming a wall of light that shone in the middle of the bathroom. The shouting and chanting stopped. The charged atmosphere crackled and the water and light noise rose to a deafening crescendo. Hermione turned around and heaved the contents of her basin at the light. The light exploded and when Ron opened his eyes the floor was charred and soot was falling to the floor like back snow. Ron dropped his arm away from his face. Harry looked over at Ron, a shocked look in the scarred boy's eyes, not comprehending the sight before him. Ron missed the look. He wasn't looking at Harry. He was looking at the two people in the space between him and the other wizard.

Two girls were crouched between them, a smaller girl with black hair flowing halfway down her back and a taller woman with black hair reaching clear past her ass. The two strangers looked up and peered cautiously at their new surroundings. The taller one stood up and while keeping one arm around the shorter girl she dropped her hand down to the sword hanging from her belt.

The other girl's face grew pale and she looked to her taller companion and said "Mukatsuka!" Ron's eyes widened when he realized what she meant. He kicked open the bathroom stall door behind him and literally pushed the couple inside. The girl gave him a grateful look before she dropped to her knees and started to throw up.

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END


	4. Catastrophe

**Untried Guardians  
**By Sqweakie the Wonder Mouse

Crossover with Harry potter and Inuyasha  
HP: AU after book four (HP and company's 5th year)  
IY: AU set at least after the Shichinin-tai Story Arc

Rating: PG-13  
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Inuyasha. They are owned by people with a lot more talent (and money) than me. sigh

AN: Sorry this took longer to post. I had the first couple of chapters already typed when I posted this fic so everything from here on out is going to be from scratch. It also doesn't help that I'm going through some weird shit right now so that complicates things. I love this story and I'm going to try my damndest to keep it going.

Equinox: Thanks again for the review and your support :)

Arin Ross, Key17, and AnimeDutchess: I'm glad that you guys liked Ron's little mistake of thinking Inu is a girl ;)

Stinky-chan: PLEASE forgive me!! Here's your update.

AN2: Lookie Mommy, no title that starts with 'I'!

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**Chapter 4-Catastrophe**

_Catastrophe-1. A great and sudden calamity  
__2. Disaster  
__3. A sudden violent change in the earth's surface  
__4. Cataclysm_

Snape was evil. He admitted it. His niece called him that often, with affection of course. Students chanted it like a mantra to ward off any part of him corrupting them, to bring them to such a state that Truth wasn't black and white, it was shaded with grays and sunbright colors. His students fought off the truth that deep down, on a very basic level, that the most hated teacher of Hogwarts (Severus Snape) was not the reincarnation of evil. The belief that he was completely evil was a common religion for both students and adults alike. Mistrust born of years under the Dark Lord's influence inbreed fear of someone different, someone they couldn't control or push into line with the herded masses.

The deep mistrust grew when it was known that he was also one of the few wizards in Europe that was not bound by the conventional rules that governed the rest of the magical community. Knowledge that he didn't follow the same rules adding to the conviction that he was evil. He had originally come to Hogwarts as a student, more advance than his 'peers'. Graduation led him to Voldemort, well actually it led 'Snape' to Voldemort and the dark wizard gave him a different type of education that left scars and stains. Leaving Voldemort, he collected the things that were left in the care of loved ones, bringing him to completion. He became something few truly knew about. Warlocks were legends that had faded with dragon-singers and staff-wielders, an extinct race that no longer plagued those who viewed normality with a narrow definition. Severus Snape was the closest thing to a Warlock that the Earth had seen in years. He was bitter, tyrannical, a stickler for details but Severus Snape was not pure evil like everyone believed. He was only semi-evil, not completely converted to the side of darkness. He wasn't on the side of good but he fought for the right thing, not always good, but right. He was a powerful creature that followed his own code of honor.

This night left the warlock to his own devices. Professor Flitwick and Madam Hooch were roaming the halls and with it being a Friday night knew was not required to hold up appearances for forty-eight hours. Severus' doors were locked for hours and most minor problems were already taken care of. He had this rare respite where nothing, bar great catastrophe, could bother or confront him. Any remaining dispute the Slytherins had could wait until morning as far as he was concerned, to be judged when he made his token appearance in their common room before he disappeared for the rest of the day. It wouldn't do if the most feared professor in recent history appeared in public clean, healthy looking with a slight tan. Several students would probably drop dead with shock.

The peace and quite was almost as wonderful as the shower. It was the first thing he did during his time off. He took the extra time to clean off all of the potions and chemicals that covered his hair and skin. Contacts were removed next and were replaced by an ordinary pair of silver wire-rimmed glasses which normal brown eyes peered out from. Clothes were not chosen with much care: a worn red T-shirt and blue jeans were thrown on. He pulled on a faded MSU sweatshirt and finally tied back his hair. No one would have recognized him as Severus Snape, not even the great Voldemort. Normally on his nights off he would leave the castle and visit his family but with is being a new moon he knew many of his cousins would be busy.

Tonight all he had planned for himself was a hot supper alone and a book (of the non-magical kind). He had eaten by sunset and he was now curled up in an overstuffed chair near his fireplace. He sat with his back against one padded arm of the chair and his legs were draped over the other arm. His book, a translated copy of 'Beowulf', propped up against his legs and was open to the battle between Beowulf and Grendel.

All outward appearances were that he was reading but he really wasn't reading, he had stopped looking at the text over an hour ago. He had his eyes closed and his mind was open to the world around him. He was opening himself up to the proverbial sea of magic that bathed Hogwarts. Small waves and eddies brushed past his consciousness, providing a warm bath of energy. One of the perks of being a Warlock was the added perception of magic that he had been born with. He could get lost in the smallest nuances of the magic woven into his world. Each person was a symphony of changing magic that flowed and teased the world surrounding that person.

The important thing to remember was that magic wasn't the same in every person. The closest thing he could compare it to was a person's penmanship and writing. Writing was a universal idea. People could write and understand other people's written works but no two people wrote the same way. Some wrote beautifully, all curves and curls and embellishments while others meddled away a lifetime with barely legible scratches that sort of resembled letters. People could write sloppily complicated ideas on long pages of decorated paper while others added their personalities with a carefully sharp sentence all by itself. People even used different things to write with. The European magic community still clung to the old fashioned parchment and quills favored centuries ago. In America, the witches and wizards used modern pens and notebook paper for everything from grocery lists to charm notes for class and research into new spells. In eastern Asia many traditional practitioners used paintbrushes and ink to write their spells and wards. All unique in their own way but in the simplest terms they all wrote. Magic was just the same, still unique to every person but it was all still just magic, or at least that was how Severus explained how magic felt to him.

He didn't think Dumbledore really understood what he was talking about when he explained it to the older wizard. That talk had come on a strange night during a summer almost eight years ago. It had taken place at his stepmother's house in Japan. The old wizard had been invited as a guest of his father, the headmaster of a small school near Kyoto. The terrace was a cacophony of Japanese and English, a warm party of family and friends. The headmaster almost didn't recognize his own potions master. Dumbledore had not expected to see him there in the midst of his Australian friends sporting an accent that was almost as strong as those around him. Cleaned up and hair cut short for the summer, Severus didn't look anything like his teacher persona. His still laughed at the memory of the sight of the gaping headmaster after he was introduced. It was rare to get one up on Albus Dumbledore, an event to prize for a lifetime.

Through the night they had drunken the traditional sake and the not so traditional Foster's Beer. The two had talked about a great variety of things. Topics ranged from Albus' childhood and school memories to the potion master's diverse cultural background and all the way to Severus' heritage as a Warlock. He had to explain that he wasn't truly 'evil', he couldn't be, but he also wasn't completely 'good'. He was a creature of magic, a slave to the practice and knowledge and how the 'right thing' had a different definition in his book. He had gone to Voldemort for the knowledge he offered, like a hungry moth to an incandescent flame. The knowledge gained was important even with the death that had occurred but he wasn't good so he didn't regret the loss.

By the end of his service to Voldemort he abandoned and avoided the trap many wizards had fallen into. Blood rituals and torturing spells were heady stuff and they could lead to a lifetime trapped in the destructive cycle. He avoided the soul-destroying life by leaving a part of his soul with his sister in Australia. For all of the dark years as a Death Eater, a small part of him was safe within his sister's care.

Once Voldemort was defeated by Baby Potter, Severus left Europe for a year to the Wilderness of the Australian Outback to gain back his life. His sister returned the small shred of innocence that remained pure within the part of his soul that was jealousy guarded in his time away from her. When he finally returned to Scotland and Hogwarts he was whole, complete, a Warlock in name and right. It had taken time to earn the respect back from his peers. The damage and fears caused my Voldemort's reign could not be undone so easily. He helped as much as he was able to and finally he offered to make amends the only way he could think of. He gave his skills and his desire to teach and learn to Hogwarts.

Years later left him here, in a job where he earned little respect with the danger that Voldemort would find him again. A critical error had been made in his time away from his former master. One of his friends on the other side of the world had been captured about two years ago. The dark lord had been surviving in the wilds of Romania and his former Death Eaters got the funny notion that a wizard practiced in a different form of magic may be able to help their fallen leader. Unfortunately for Saniiro, he was the first available wizard that wouldn't be missed for a couple of months. Saniiro didn't have the answer to their problems but he left them with the knowledge that a warlock existed and walked the nights. Saniiro's heart gave out before they learned the name, his name to be exact, but the fact that a warlock lived somewhere was dangerous information. Voldemort wouldn't hesitate to use such a powerful person to further his goals. At the time of his service, Severus had not been a true warlock so the opportunity to use him was not available to the wizard at the time (even if he knew then that Snape was indeed a future warlock). If Voldemort found him now, his life would be hell until the Lord tired of him, then a slow and painful death befitting a traitor would be his fate.

Right now he was safe. He was hidden in one of the most secure building in the northern hemisphere, in shielded rooms of a castle that had stood in the same spot for over a thousand years. Severus was the picture of relaxation, as if none of the dangers or problems assaulted him in this one sanctuary. With ease that years of practice made second nature, he stretched out his awareness of the magic. The first rooms that he touched were his fellow teachers' room. The majority of teachers were in similar states of relaxation like he was. Sine rooms were empty, a clear night providing a wanderlust that carried many adults to the taverns of Hogsmeade.

Reaching past the teachers' wing he entered the realm where magic was wilder, younger, not as controlled as the professors kept their magic. Those who were learning how to control the magic that burned within their souls didn't have the same feeling as the full trained wizards. Children's magic tended to fluxuate and send off waves of energy that often set his teeth on edge. It was unnerving standing in the Great Hall if he stretched out his senses and the magic was uncontrolled at those times. Under the wild magic of the students and the steady magic of his fellow teachers, Snape could feel the undercurrent of magic that was the soul of Hogwarts. The steady river that flowed through the stone and splashed on the walls. Some rooms practically glowed with the released magic that pooled with cool release.

He pulled back to the center of his world and was able to reflect on what made up himself. He could feel the dirt and the blood and the shining cleanliness that made up the patchwork of his soul. He stood outside his physical body and looked down. Magic bent around him and wove itself within adding color to the coal black and diamond clear heart. As he watched himself in the twisted mirror of reality, the colors of magic grew and folded in waves. His perception looked up as the magic grew and twisted against the castle walls. A deep sound coursed through the air and the magic responded with glowing repercussions. Danger prickled the metaphorical hairs on the back of his neck. Severus started to pull out of the magic and resettle back within his body.

He started to close his perception but he wasn't fast enough. He was still fully aware of the magic around him when _it_ hit him full force. It was like a massive wave of pure magic crashed into his consciousness. He was thrown from his lazy perch on the chair and he landed awkwardly onto the ground. Even while the magic was still heavy in the air Severus picked himself up off the floor. Magic spun around like wildfire escaping from a center inferno and the energy caused shook the foundation of the castle.

He pulled a discarded robe over his head while stuffing his feet in a pair of dress shoes. Then he laid down his glasses and grabbed his wand that was lying on his kitchen table. There was no time for the proper potions to disguise his face so a quick spell changed the color of his skin and make his hair appear greasy, changing his looks enough to pass inspection. Nothing could be done about his muggle clothes but luckily his robe covered everything except about three inches of jean-clad legs.

Magical aftershocks shook the old stones as he ran out of the teachers' wing, following the bright spirals of magic that escaped what he assumed was a spell. His heart dropped when he neared the epicenter of the magic. He stopped outside of a girl's bathroom, the same bathroom that hid the Chamber of Secrets. Either the magic originated here or the magic was from the Chamber and was being channeled up to this room. His perception was wide open and he could see that the magic was strongest _here._

Severus slowly pushed open the broken door. Steam poured out into the cold hallway, instant fog, and obscured the wreckage inside. Wood splinters (from the door he hoped) littered the platform inside the doorway. The floor was covered with wriggling scorch marks that threw more steam off the stones they marked.

He walked carefully, carelessly over the marks. 'Carelessly' because the spell and damage were already done and 'carefully' because he didn't know exactly would be beyond the steam. He rounded the sinks that still spilled water over their rims and the professor walked up the remaining steps to survey the true damage. Three students stood in shock, covered with soot and chalk by the toilets. One more Hogwarts student was crouched half way in a stall talking to something in there.

"Oh boy, their in big trouble," a scratchy voice whispered. Whipping around he stood nose to nose with a ghost. He had a feeling that the ghost was a witness to this disaster but Dumbledore could worry about that. Right now he was more worried about whatever was in the toilet stall. He walked past a red head that was covered in more dirt than soot and chalk. 'Weasley' his mink provided. A quick glance to the right proved that a Scorched Granger and Sword-Wielding Potter were both standing there. He had a pretty good idea who the last student was.

One of the Weasley boys was crouched talking to two women in the bathroom stall. One woman was otherwise occupied, attempting to throw up half of her intestines along with whatever she had eaten in the past week. The other one was half supporting the sick girl, half leaning against the partition between toilets. Weasley was trying to reassure them in Japanese, something he thought he would never hear at Hogwarts. The woman tried to reply but fainted and fell over, bringing the other woman (who had finally stopped throwing up and lost consciousness) with her.

Weasley barely caught the longhaired woman but the smaller woman crumpled to the floor. Severus sighed, the pair would not be a threat for a while. Bringing his wand up he muttered a spell and the stall partitions disappeared and then reappeared stacked neatly by the sinks. He then summoned two floating stretchers and helped Weasley lift the unconscious bodies onto them.

This was all done in silence befitting a funeral or worse. He was so pissed that he couldn't speak. It was obvious that the four students performed a spell that was not allowed by untrained students. He directed the incapacitated pair on the stretchers to the door. He turned to look behind him. The four students drifted along behind the stretchers. Shocky looks all around, they hadn't made much noise except for the Weasley boy (who looked like the only one capable of doing anything that require thought).

"Weasley, come with me." He pointed to the redhead boy. "The rest of you go to the Headmaster's Office. NOW!" The last part he practically screamed. The three students ran past him and the stretchers and out the door. He didn't worry about them not having a password, Granger was a Prefect and she would know. Emphasis on the word _was_. It would be surprising if the four of them were allowed to stay at school. The Granger girl would definitely loose her Prefect status, if not more. After the other ones ran out the only one left with him was the Weasley boy. He looked tiredly at the Professor and at his teacher's gesture, took magical control over one of the stretchers. They walked single file out the door and Severus led the way to the hospital wing as the other Professors finally showed up for some damage control.

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END


	5. Stumble

**Untried Guardians  
**By Sqweakie the Wonder Mouse

Crossover with Harry potter and Inuyasha  
HP: AU after book four (HP and company's 5th year)  
IY: AU set at least after the Shichinin-tai Story Arc

Rating: PG-13  
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Inuyasha. They are owned by people with a lot more talent (and money) than me. sigh

AN: Hello again. Another week, another chappy. It's pretty self-explanatory.

Stinky-chan: I am so happy I'm your favorite person (blushes) and its gonna be great, I promise.

Nox: Oh my gosh. Thank you so much. I am so glad you like Snape and I love hearing that you do. Seamus Heaney?? I just remember Beowulf from one of my lit classes. BTW I'm only partway through your Dragon's Bait but I love it.

gypsymuse: Thanks.

Ha-chan: Kag and Kik. . . not quite.

Blackrosebunny451: Thanks to you too.

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Chapter 5-Stumble 

_Stumble-1. To miss one's step in walking or running; To trip and almost fall  
2. __To make a mistake; to blunder  
3. __To fall into evil ways; err  
4. __To come upon accidentally or unexpectedly_

Magic followed the quartet as they slowly marched to the hospital wing. Severus kept his senses open to gauge the state of the castle after such a powerful magical event. He could practically taste the magic left over from the spell the Gryffindor students stupidly cast. The warlock could feel the magic burning off Weasley and the two strangers and it swirled like a breaking storm around the moving teenager and the stretchers.

They finally reached the correct floor and Snape walked through the swinging double doors that marked the entrance to the hospital wing. A flick of the wand cued the doors to stay open while the two stretchers and one student passed their threshold. A small bell sounded from deeper within the ward.

"What did you do now Professor Snape?" Madame Pomfrey, an older mediwitch, asked as she exited her office to greet her newest patients. She paused when she got a good look at the two stretchers. The two unconscious people were dressed in muggle clothes and the faces didn't belong to any of the students that currently attended Hogwarts.

"Weasley and his friends decided to cast a spell these two just happened to appear. They both lost consciousness about ten minutes ago. One was throwing up before she fainted the other had no symptoms to speak of." A sneer decorated his face as he glanced over at Weasley. The boy at least looked a little remorseful for breaking the rules. "We do not know who these two women are and since they are obviously sick I brought them here."

The witch nodded and took over control of the two stretchers. She directed them across the room to a pair of beds near her office door. The stretchers floated over individual beds and disappeared as the mediwitch started to wave her wand over the smaller girl. "Mister Weasley, if you would take a seat on one of the beds I want to examine you before Professor Snape takes you to where he thinks you should go."

Ron complied and sat down on a bed near the door that led to the rest of the castle. Snape remained standing between the door and the Gryffindor. He glared at the boy and Weasley stared back in return. "You will stay right there and not move unless you want to lose half of Gryffindor's house points." He nodded and Snape stalked back over to Poppy and their new guests.

"Well, there's nothing physically wrong with either them. There is quite a bit of magic running rampant in their bodies but I cannot tell if it's natural or if it is the spell. What do you see, oh great warlock?" Severus sighed and _looked_ at the girl in front of them.

"There is white sparks shifting within her skin but there is at least two different types of energy coursing underneath the sparks. One is a shifting blue and the other is a constant purplish black. The blue is more than likely her magic but I do not have any idea what the purple could be. She could be part veela or some other creature. Maybe a werewolf but that usually looks yellow and night in varying strengths, not purple."

"What about the other one?"

He turned to the girl with the long hair and _looked_ at her. "Again there are sparks but there is also magic underneath. It looks green like leaves or new grass. There is something else but I can't see it. It's almost like a power that is sleeping. I won't be sure until she is awake."

"No you won't."

"Why not?"

"Because 'she' is really a 'he'." The warlock's eyes looked at her skeptically and he looked down and did a double take. The face was almost delicate in sleep and with the long hair he was fooled but the body was definitely male. Poppy looked like she was ready to laugh at him but somehow she held back. The best course of action in this case was to ignore her and redirect her attention.

"So will you be safe with these two in your care?"

"Yes and just so they don't runaway when they wake up I will to put spells in both of them and their beds so they can't get up. A couple of alarms and it will be fine. Is that acceptable?" She looked like she was just humoring his superficial concerns.

"It will be acceptable. If you would examine Mister Weasley I will be on my way."

"Of course." Poppy walked back across the room and stopped in front of the student. "So how are you feeling Mister Weasley?"

"O.K. I'm kinda tired."

"That can be expected. Spells like that take a lot out of you. Are feeling nauseous, any pain?"

"No, ma'am"

She nodded and waved her wand up and down. A multihued list of information become visible next to him. She looked over the list and made some positive noises. "Where are your shoes Mister Weasley?" Snape looked down and belatedly realized that he had led the boy barefoot through the freezing castle.

"We had to take them off and I left them by the door."

"They were not there." Snape told him.

"But I remember putting them there."

"I can assure you that there were no shoes within that bathroom. There were some large scorch marks by the door." Snape smirked as Weasley's face fell.

"I do have a pair of socks and slippers you can wear." Poppy came to the rescue seeing Ron's lost look. He agreed so she pulled out a set of canary yellow footwear. He pulled them on as the mediwitch finished her magical tests.

"Well then Mister Weasley, I think you can go." He nodded and jumped off the bed. Snape motioned him to follow and swept out the door. The boy followed him as they walked along a portrait-strung hallway towards the northern gathering of staircases. The professor's stride was long and ate up considerable distance in a few steps. Ron's pace was slower. His steps were uncertain and he started to stumble the farther they got from the hospital wing.

The warlock reached the bottom of the first set of steps they would have to climb to reach the floor where the Headmaster's office resided. He looked back to see that Weasley was a good twenty meters away from him. "I know that my presence is detestable to you but you do not need to walk so far behind me."

"Yes, Professor," the boy mumbled. He crossed the distance separating them and the two started to climb the stairs together. Over the course of the trip the older man began to outdistance the teenager but he didn't stop to wait for him to catch up. He made it to the top and turned back to look down the staircase.

"Weasley, hurry up." Ron nodded but his pace didn't change. The professor waited at the top as the boy climbed the last steps slowly, pain furrowing his forehead.

"Professor, I don't feel so. . ." Weasley's eyes rolled and he started to fall backwards towards the stairs. Snape jumped towards him, he caught hold of the boy but he was overbalanced. They both started to fall down. He twisted in the air so the boy would fall on top of him. It worked as the unconscious body crashed on top of him and his back took the full force of the sharp stairs. Well, it worked until he started to roll. The two tumbled down a couple of stairs until the teacher was able to stop their downward momentum. He landed on his side facing down at the boy who rested on a lower step. Weasley's face was uncommonly pale, even for him. Breaths came quickly and sweat start to form on his face. He reached over to feel for a pulse. A rapid heartbeat fluttered under his fingers but the sink he was touching was cool and clammy.

'_Shit'_ the boy was going to full blown shock. He didn't look like this when he had been in the hospital wing. Severus pulled off his robe and wrapped it around the boy to keep him warm. Then he picked up the boy and ran back to the hospital wing. He burst through the doors as Madame Pomfrey ran out of her office, attracted by his yell. He laid Weasley on the nearest bed to the door.

"What happened!" she asked even as she brought up her wand to check his vitals.

"We were walking up the Headmaster's office and he was starting to become lethargic. We reached the top of the stairs and he fainted so I tried to catch him before he could fall all the way down the steps. We fell a short ways down. When we stopped he didn't respond so I picked him up and carried him here."

He grabbed blankets out of the bedside table and started piling them on top of the boy. Poppy was waving around her wand and fountains of colored stats flung out.

"Fast heart rate, low blood sats, blood pressure 90 over 60 and falling. No signs of curses or hexes on him." Faint tremors made themselves known from underneath the blankets. "Pupils are dilated and their not responding" Snape called as he shined he lit wand into Weasley's eyes. "There are signs of cyanosis, his lips are turning blue and it doesn't sound like he is breathing easy ."

"This doesn't make any sense. Did he trip, fall, seizures or spells? Did you notice anything unusual?"

"No. He was fine bringing in the stretchers. You checked him out and we headed for the Headmaster's Office. No stops along the way. He got up that first flight of stairs and then keeled over. Otherwise before that he . . . was. . ."

He paled under the facial spells and looked across at Poppy. Her eyes widened as it mentally clicked for her too. Snape ran to the fireplace adjacent to Poppy's door against the near wall. Along the stone mantle was a row of pots and glass vials. He grabbed a small tube that was filled with sparkling purple liquid and he flung the vial into the fireplace with a satisfying crunch. He rushed back towards the sick teenager as Poppy started to yell.

"Headmaster Dumbledore, are the other students still with you?"

"Yes, Poppy. They're here warming up and eating some sandwiches. How is Mister Weasley?"

"Not good. He collapsed on the way towards your office. Severus carried him here but he is getting worse."

Voices quietly held council before Dumbledore spoke up again. "They assure me that Mister Weasley was quite healthy before they started their spell. They do not know of anything that could have made the boy sick."

"Well too bad for them because Weasley isn't just sick, he's dieing and we need to know what happened. Did any of them bring a copy of the spell used with them to your office?" Snape replied.

"No, we didn't Professor," a subdued female voice called through the fireplace. "The book was charmed so nothing could be copied and after the spell was finished the entire tome disappeared. We don't have it anymore."

"Shit! What do you remember Miss Granger?" It was Poppy this time that sounded angry. "What did Mister Weasley do for the spell?"

"Well, all he had to do was stand there. He stood in the West position and..."

"WEST! What kind of spell were you doing?!"

"It was in an old book I found in Diagon Alley." The girl sounded close to tears. She stuttered out how she found the book and while reading through it spell she found the spell and it sounded like the answer to their prayers. They later cast it and that was how the two strangers made their sudden appearance in one of the most carefully guarded buildings in Scotland. All the time that Granger talked Severus and Poppy continued casting charms and giving the Gryffindor potions to help him breath.

"And then, then we got everything together and cast the spell after sunset. Nothing happened for a while but then something did happen and I finished the spell. That's when the two people showed up. Ron was fine when we left." Granger's voice finally cracked and the soft sounds of sobbing could be heard through the fire.

Snape became impatient when no more voices came through the fire except for the muted crying. "Miss Granger, tell me exactly why the four of you were there for that spell."

"I was casting in and Harry, Ginny and Ron stood as anchors in the other directions. It wasn't supposed to have any complications except for the Guardians, the strangers, who were supposed to get sick. I thought Ron would be the safest in the West position because Harry was already in the East and Ginny had to be South."

"Hermione," Poppy said with a deceptively soft voice. "What position were you?"

"I was North, I was the Sorceress."

Motion ceased in the hospital wing as her words caught up with the frantically working adults.

"'Sorceress.'" Snape shouted at the girl. "Your position was. . . SHIT! You stupid, idiotic, selfish girl! You didn't cast a spell, you performed a ritual. A damn Wiccan ritual. What the hell were you thinking?! What position was he, the Title? What was Weasley's Title?"

Poppy and Snape's eyes caught one another and they heard the girl take in a deep breath. "He was the Innocent."

His heart clenched in his chest. They were dealing with something immensely more powerful than a spell. Rituals were not for the weak hearted. It took tremendous power and the right people to successfully perform such an act and they were dangerous.

Poppy gaped at the professor as his disguising spells slipped and shattered around his face and revealed what he truly looked like. She cleared her throat at spoke to the girl. "Was he willing or unwilling to perform the spell Miss Granger?"

"He agreed to do it."

"That's not what I'm asking. Did he want to do the spell or did you have to convince him." The silence after her question was painful, filled only with the forced breathing of the dieing boy between them. "He really didn't want to do it but I got him to do it."

Severus' hands gripped his wand and the blanket that provided the top layer of the cocoon they built for Weasley. He heard Poppy choke back tears. "Was this a gray spell Miss Granger," his deadly voice called to the fire.

"Yes," was the shaky answer. Poppy jolted into action. She started to tear the warm blankets off the prone body inhabiting the bed. "What are you doing woman?" He stammered out.

"If he was used as the innocent and he wasn't willing there should be cuts on his body, bleeding cuts. That's the only way to bring an unwilling innocent fully into the spell to shield the person from the backlash and prevent the spell from undoing itself." She sounded frantic and her actions were uncoordinated at best. Severus helped her pull away the blankets and helped search the visible skin for any wounds.

"What cuts?" the Headmaster asked.

"There should be cuts. Any idiot who knows about Gray Wiccan Magic knows that each person had to be connected physically with his or her element. Whoever was a parent will have dirt, a sorcerer will scorch their hands to prepare. A willing innocent will hold a dove or other bird. An unwilling one will have wounds, usually cuts on the hands to connect to the element they are traditionally trying to portray."

"He doesn't have any cuts. I didn't know about that. The book said the element was air and it just asked for 'empty hands'" Granger hopelessly informed them.

Poppy looked back over at Snape. "Stay with him."

"What are you getting?"

"We need to make those cuts before he suffocates or something bursts and he bleeds to death." She ran to the line of metal cabinets that covered the farthest wall of the ward. Pulling open one of the doors she grabbed a small heap of items packaged in plastic and blue cloth. She rushed back to the bed and laid down her precious load. Closer up Severus could identify different muggle healing instruments. Special gloves in individual packets and sealed scalpels were the two things that stuck out in his mind.

"I have never been so glad that the ministry had that stupid rule about keeping a supply of nonmagical instruments incase of a HunYieara outbreak. We can use these to make the cuts." She explained as she slathered Ron's hands with a brown liquid leaking from a small sponge.

"What do we need to do?"

"Put on the gloves and grab one of the scalpels. Each of us is going to have to slice open a hand," she ordered him.

"What?!"

"The spell is still within his body. There is nothing, no connection to dissipate the magic. It's going to make him sicker and sicker until he dies or until he is cut open and his blood is exposed to the air. If that happens the effects of the spell will dissipate. Grab his hand and hold it in yours, palm up. When I tell you, cut across the palm and hold the hand so it doesn't clench or move."

"What are you doing, Poppy." The headmaster's worried voice floated into the room.

"Damn, forgot that that was still on. We are going to try to reverse the spell within his body. We'll call you when we are done. Finita Inctie." The last words ended the enchantment within the fire that made an open connection to the Headmaster's office.

"Alright Sev. Take his hand and position the scalpel. When I tell you make the incision."

"Understood."

"Ready? " He nodded and positioned the sharp blade against Weasley's skin.

The cuts were quick and precise but they had to have hurt like hell. A raw scream tore from Weasley and his back twisted and arched. Severus kept a death grip on his hand and used the scalpel-wielding hand to restrain Weasley's wrist, as did Poppy. The moment ended and the boy relaxed and the screaming stopped. A faint darkness, like a stain floating in water, seeped into the air from the teenager's wounds. The darkness twisted and shredded until it faded like the memory of a faint October wind. Weasley's condition changed rapidly. His breathing evened out and pink color flooded his face. Blood flowed freely from his hands but Poppy made no move to cover them. Snape reached for a clean cloth but a smaller hand stopped him.

"Those cuts are going to have to remain open to the air until he wakes up. Some of that dark crap is still in his system. It will take a while for it to completely leave his body."

"So I take it that you will not be healing Mister Weasley's hands either?"

"No. He will have those scars for the rest of his life. If the cuts had been made prior to the spell I may have been able to heal them but now." She let the sentence trail off as she saw the disturbed look in Severus' eyes. "We can clean him up and put towels underneath to absorb the blood." The man nodded and the two got to work cleaning up Ronald Weasley, working around the bleeding mess that would mark him his entire life.

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END

AN2: I figured I'd give you guys a break and not have a cliffhanger. . . this time.


	6. Affect

**Untried Guardians  
**By Sqweakie the Wonder Mouse

Crossover with Harry potter and Inuyasha  
HP: AU after book four **(Harry and company's 5th year)  
**IY: AU set at least after the Shichinin-tai Story Arc

Rating: PG-13  
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Inuyasha. They are owned by people with a lot more talent (and money) than me. sigh

_Looks at the top of the screen _OHH! Inuyasha. I should really think about adding them. It might be interesting.

AN: I know this is in the Inuyasha category but I have quite a bit to set up before I can wake up Inu and Kag. Their set up was easy and yet is still unrealized. Hogwarts is part of the set up and part stalling until I can completely realize where they are in the series. But in the mean time. . .

Big thanks to Key17 for the needed laugh and for the inspiration. I never thought of it that way.

Thanks Nox for the name of the author. I'm gonna look for it next time I get to a good bookstore.

Inny-hakky, sigh, please see top in bold. I know it wasn't on the first chapter but it's up there on later chapters.

Thanks to Stinky-chan, Tears-of-the-moon-goddess, Soramiko, sailor-saturn550, harryptaxd204, Delphine Pryde, blackrosebunny451, LOTRandHPluver, oh and Mariko- _poke, poke_ to you to.

AN2: I'm adding a new element. Occasionally you'll see emphasized words italicized like _this_. But if you see a sentence like _"The quick dog jumped over the lazy fox." _It is a sentence in a language other than the characters are commonly using. If the bulk of the characters are speaking English the italics mean Japanese.

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**Chapter 6-Affect**

_Affect-1. To have an influence on; bring about change  
__2. To touch or move the emotions of  
__3. To attack or infect  
__4. To stimulate or in order to make some desired impression  
_

By the time they were done Snape and Poppy were exhausted. They had cleaned up Ron Weasley as best as they could, considering that his hands still leaked blood and the darkness that poisoned his body. His clothes were ruined. They smelled of burnt cotton and everything charred. Soot and chalk burrowed deep into the fabric leaving stains that would never come out. They ended cutting the shirt and pants off around his unresponsive limbs and everything was coated with blood by the time they rolled his body off the scraps. The boy's shoes were missing-in-action, presumably they were burned up in the magical aftermath that ravaged the entire girl's bathroom so they also were a loss.

"I guess it's time for you to report to the headmaster." Poppy didn't look directly at him when she spoke and she bustled to the other side of the ward after her proclamation. Snape's eyes widened at her bold act of volunteerism of the potions master. He made his displeasure at her act known. "Well, I'll have to stay here to monitor Mister Weasley's condition and to keep and eye on our two mysterious guests. You are the more logical choice to talk to Dumbledore."

"No, I do not think so. You have more knowledge on their conditions, he'll probably prefer to hear it from your own lips."

"Don't even try to outmaneuver me Severus. I have been a Slytherin more years than you have. Just because you're the Head of your house doesn't mean you can take me on any day of the week." He smiled and nodded his head. Some days it wasn't worth trying to take on one of the truest Slytherins at Hogwarts.

She managed to slither her way through trouble in her youth that would have made him hesitate, plus she was a year mate with the great Voldemort and there where stories of how Madame Pomfrey (Miss Tunsihn at the time) had taken on and won against the young Tom Riddle. He may have recruited her if he hadn't known that she would have made him admit that she was smarter than he was in some aspects of life, including political maneuvering and medicine. Instead of service, she entered the mediwizard program taught in London. When she left her St. Mungo's medical internship she returned to Hogwarts to avoid the chance of a Death Eater 'convincing' her to join the Dark Army. She admitted she missed the business of St. Mungo's but she would never give up her job at the school. She had been able to keep an eye on her children (two Ravenclaws and one Slytherin) as they went through the education system and one day she would watch over her grandchildren. She was not a woman to mess with or go against.

"I have a second reason for you to talk to the Headmaster. Once you are done explaining what happened and reassure him that Mister Weasley is alright I want you to go to you rooms and find a pair of pants and a shirt from the new clothes that you got last weekend."

"I have not. . ."

"Yes you have. You went to Glasgow with Professor Sinistra last weekend and I know she wouldn't have let you leave the city limits unless you bought at least one new outfit. Since I am not sure what reaction Mister Weasley's body will have to any magical residue right now. I want to dress him in some uncontaminated muggle clothes. All we'll need to do is shrink them and use some Clordian Powder to remove any excess magic leftover from the spell. It will be safer than running to the nearest muggle store and trying to explain the need to by clothes at least two sizes smaller than you need and explain it at ten o'clock at night.

"Yes, ma'am." Weariness and resignation colored his consent as the matron of the hospital wing smiled at his downtrodden look.

"That's a good lad," she said with a superior look on her face. "Just put back on those wonderful make-up spells of yours and you can whip over to the Headmaster's office in no time."

"What?"

"Your spells."

"What do you mean spells. I have had them on the entire time. I put them on before I left my rooms. They are not removable until I want them off."

"Well, I'm sorry to break it to you, but, they collapsed while we were working on Mister Weasley."

The professor strode into Poppy's office and peered into the full-length mirror on one of the walls. Taking in full view of his appearance he saw the gray sweatshirt and faded jeans over shiny dress shoes. Above the shoes and the shirt a tan neck propped up a tanned face and clean hair. He pulled out his pocketed wand and recited the spells that had faithfully disguised his countenance.

Nothing happened.

Vicious cursing brought Poppy away from her patients and to her office and the irate many point at himself, alternating swearwords and incantations. He looked at her with a look that might have been mistaken as pleading in a normal human. She pulled out her wand and cast a spell that should have turned his hair a bright red.

Nothing happened.

Black hair mocked her failed attempt as a brown-eyed glare was directed at her for her choice of spell. "I see you have matured a great deal over the years I've known you. A prank spell?"

"It was a favorite of dear little Remus. He taught me it his second year. It's obvious that you are too emotional. You've blocked out magic."

"It's a defense mechanism. I am _not_ emotional."

"Either way no one can use any magic against you. I guess we will have to do this the old-fashion way." She walked past him and through a door on the far side of the office. She returned holding a box and a different set of dress robes. Severus' robes were currently in a bloody heap that the two adults had removed from underneath the Weasley boy. Snape pulled on the wizard robes as Poppy placed the box on her desk. He finished buttoning the last buttons and turned to see what Poppy was working with. He stopped when he saw the brush and container in her hands. Skin-colored paste was slathered on the brush and Poppy was advancing towards the taller man.

"What do you thing you are doing?" He started to back off as a faint fear trickled in his belly. She advanced, matching his steps.

"You can't go around the school looking like that. Some of the teachers don't know what you really look like, much less the students we both know roam the halls. We have done this before."

"When I was unconscious for three days. I didn't have to move and I was ready to scratch off my face when I woke up. You are not putting that shit on my face." His refusal was met with determination bundled in a small fifty-year-old mediwitch, needless to say he lost. Within minutes he was alone in the hallway outside of the hospital wing with enough make up to cover a quidditch pitch. Many passageways were known to the students but some were only accessible to the professors. Snape took one of these passages, a well-used corridor that ended directly across from the gargoyle marking the entrance to the Headmaster's office. He stepped across the common hallway and in a low voice announced the ridiculous password the old man had chosen for the month.

The stairs started spinning in a clockwise motion as he rode the spinning staircase up two floors to the inner door of Dumbledor's office. Subdued voices echoed out of the room as he opened the heavy wood door that blocked the wondrous rounded room out of a child's fanciful imagination. One could not appreciate the majesty of the room until you walked inside its walls. Books and paintings scattered the walls while small knickknacks broke up the flat shapes. The floor itself was a range of levels that stepped higher the farther a person went into the office. To the right was a small mountain of twirling metal heaped in the shape of a circular telescope, many ringed and ornately decorated with gold and inscriptions.

On the largest area halfway through the room was a massive mahogany desk with a high-back plush velvet chair. A small army of lower backed chairs stood at attention in front of the desk and its occupant: the old man that resembled a snow covered stick more than a wizard. The wizard in question was dressed in silky white robes embroidered with silver runes and alchemy marks. Eyes saddened and old peered over half-moon glasses that looked down at the three students cowering in individual soldier-straight chairs.

Snape stopped well away from the desk and the occupants as the headmaster's voice quietly scolded the Gryffindors. His face itched under the heavy makeup but he doubted its opacity would hold up appearances under the close scrutiny by the three teenagers. It was best to stay a reasonable distance away instead of risking himself just to be able to lord over the Gryffindor's obvious censure. The three of them probably had been getting the dress down of their lives since they ran out of the bathroom hours earlier.

The potions master stopped and nodded his head at the stern woman that stood on the Headmaster's left side. She raised an auburn eyebrow at him, taking note of the layered makeup noticeable only to a fellow connoisseur of the art of disguise. She leaned down and spoke quietly to the Headmaster, announcing his presence.

"Thank you Professor McGonagall. Is there any news Professor Snape?" His voice was steady but his eyes revealed dread held close to his heart. It had taken a long time for Severus to come to the Headmaster's office, in person, and the last bit of conversation he overheard from the hospital wing was dire. There was no way for the Headmaster to know how Mister Weasley fared.

"He is sleeping right now. Madame Pomfrey is keeping him sedated while she monitors his condition but she expects him to be awake by sunrise. There will be minimal lasting effects of the ritual that can be dealt with at a later date."

"Thank you Severus. Is there anything else?"

The question was an innocent one but it triggered guilt. He didn't want to say it but Poppy suggested it when she was applying his disguise. "The evidence at this point proves that Mister Weasley was an unwilling participant to the spell and thus he should receive a lesser punishment, Madame Pomfrey's words, not mine."

"I will take that into consideration. For tonight I want the three of you," he directed to the Gryffindor, "to stay in you common room. Professor McGonagall will decide you punishment tomorrow." The three students nodded and slowly filed out of the room with the Head of their house behind them. She glanced one more time back at him and then she started to descend the stairs.

"Poppy wants you to come to the hospital wing in the morning. By then she thinks that she may know who our unexpected guests are and Mister Weasley will be awake by then."

A few minutes and a declined tea invitation later Snape left the headmaster's office and after a quick stop at his rooms for a bite to eat and the clothes that Poppy requested he ended up back at the hospital wing. Not much had changed in the time it took to inform the Headmaster. Weasley was still unconscious and bleeding as were the two strangers (who were not bleeding but just as asleep).

Poppy was sitting in a chair next to the Gryffindor while she was reading a tattered leather-bound book. Well, it looked like she was reading but she was in reality had fallen into an exhausted slumber. Severus' arrival jolted her to wakefulness. She noted his presence and the bundle of cloth gripped in his gloved hands. She had given him the gloves when it was obvious that the paste that successfully colored his skin would not stay on his hands. She stood and relieved him of his burden as he excused himself and went into a convenient bathroom to wash off the makeup.

By the time he returned to the main ward Poppy had finished shrinking the clothes and had dressed the sleeping boy. Ronald Weasley was now the proud owner of a set of Adidas army green track pants and black cotton t-shirt. Clothes that definitely mortify the boy once he woke up with the colors that only the potions master would approve of. They also were probably the newest clothes the boy had ever worn, with five older brothers hand-me-downs were a fact of life.

"I want you stay here tonight Severus. I'm not sure when our new friends will wake up." She motioned at the two strangers. "From what you said, it sounded like Mister Weasley was speaking Japanese to them. If they can not understand English I would prefer to have someone who spoke the language close by and since Mister Weasley is decidedly unable to and you can speak Japanese. . ."

He nodded in acceptance after Poppy glared at him. The rest of the night was spent catching quick catnaps in between Poppy's checks on her patients. Luckily there was no one else in the hospital wing that night so he was able to rest without worry that someone would find him without the careful disguise of the pale potions master.

By five in the morning the Gryffindor was the first patient to stir. Predawn light filtered through the massive stain glass windows that the founders preferred in the oldest parts of the castle. Weasley shifted with unease as he woke up in an unfamiliar bed to a pain that was not there before he fainted. Poppy was the first to notice as the redhead started to open his eyes and try to move his hands. During the night the boy had started to shift in his sleep and stretching the wounds on his hands. It had become necessary to tie his hands down so he wouldn't injure them more and now the half-awake teenager was pulling at the restraints in confusion.

"Good morning Ron. How do you feel?"

"Why are my hands tied down?" He looked confused as he tried to pull harder against the restraints.

"We didn't want you to injure them more so we had to stop them from moving in your sleep." She reached down and manually untied the restraints and removing them from his wrists. She then carefully removed the bandages that covered his hands. The mediwitch and potions master had decided at about two in the morning that the magically induced poison had left his body. They were then able to cautiously bandage the cuts to soak up the trickle of blood that still seeped from the wounds. Once Poppy removed the bloodstained cloth Severus was able to get a good look. The cuts looked almost healed with a matching pair of angry red lines that were closed.

Weasley watched as Poppy unwrapped his hands and he gasped after seeing the first one. His skin paled when he saw the second one. He lifted his shaky gaze to the mediwitch and stared at her guilty look.

"What did you do?" His tone was not judgmental, only hurt projected out.

"She saved you life Weasley." Snape snarled out. The boy jumped and pulled his injured hands away from Poppy and hid them under his blanket. A look of horror passed his face when he realized that the potions master had been standing there, on the other side of his bed, the entire time. Confusion stole on to his face as the boy looked at him. A sound that might have been a giggle reached his ears from the other side of the bed. He looked up and glared at the smiling mediwitch.

"Who the hell are you?"

Poppy broke down laughing as Weasley stared at his face. He reached up to touch his face and his hand came back clean. He never put back on the blasted makeup. He must have resembled a baked cookie more than the pasty-dough face he usually displayed. Looking down he noticed he also forgot to change out of his muggle clothes or put on a black wizard robes.

"If you tell anyone Mister Weasley, you will be serving detentions with your grandchildren."

The boy flinched. "Yes, Professor Snape."

The man nodded and stalked off to the opposite side of the hospital ward to look out a clearer pane of one of the stain glass windows. Poppy stood by the Gryffindor and after a short conversation she produced a tray with a light breakfast of toast and juice. She left him on his own and she walked over to Severus' side of the ward.

"How does he look?" she whispered as Weasley started to eat his breakfast. She had Snape wake up and check on the boy's magic each time she checked her patients. He observed through the night the dirty blackness seep away from his body and slowly cleansing the shimmering blue the boy's magic appeared to him. He _looked_ at the boy, expecting to see the clean blue. What he saw was an emptiness where magic should flow. Poppy squeezed his shoulder to catch his attention. When he _looked_ at her he could see the dark red currents of her magic that crashed like waves against his.

She left his side and preformed a complicated wand movement. A large empty sphere appeared floating next to Weasley's side. She nodded and spoke to him. He closed his eyes and a shower of blue sparks erupted around him. The blue settled into a familiar pattern unique to the boy. The mediwitch smiled at the boy and she nodded her approval. She motioned to the orb that now was filled with a hazy smoke. At her word the smoke and the boy's magic disappeared and reemerged within the room. One more time the magic winked out and it didn't reappear. Poppy was pleased and Weasley looked a little happier.

She once again left the teenager's side and returned to stand next to Snape. He raised and eyebrow in question but she shook her head. She opened her mouth only to close it. Whatever she had wanted to say it wasn't the time or the place for it. She left him alone and walked to one of the cabinets next to Weasley's bed.

He looked back out the window to await the first rays of sun. The glow brightened as the sun prepared to climb over the horizen. Severus gasped in shock as a power cut him, that felt like flying daggers burning through his body. Poppy rushed over in concern as she obviously wasn't affected but she recognized that something was affecting him. The unseen fire clawed at him as sunlight brightened the hospital wing. He started to collapse as two sets of hands grabbed him and pushed him onto a bed. His eyes fluttered open to a symphony of color and smells as his senses burst open. Disturbed magic swirled and pushed the interior of the room. Poppy let go of him as magical detectors started going off adding clashing sounds to the over stimulated brain of the Professor. An arm supported his back as the mediwitch rushed to her office.

"The alarms are for here! What is going on?" She started to rush back to the downed professor but stopped in astonish halfway to the bed. The arm supporting him helped him sit upright and he was able to see what shocked the woman. The magical storm concentrated on one of the prone figures on a neighboring bed creating a real, physical wind. The longhaired man glowed with the power rushing back to him and it was that power that was upsetting the natural balance of magic. As the rush died down he finally got a clear picture of hair that was fading, brightening to white and a hand that curled into an unnatural claw position with claws literally growing out of his fingertips.

The mouth of his supporter signed in unenthusiastic resignation. "Well Hermione did say that the Guardians might not be human." The redhead turned to his teacher and the teacher had the good graces to be shocked. The man in the bed next to him wasn't human. He looked like a demon.

The figure stirred and turned his head in confusion. Eyes blinked open, eyes that were a color closer to gold and amber. He slowly sat up and looked around the room.

"_Where the hell am I."_ The creature reached down to the waist. His eyes flew up when he came up with nothing. _"What have you done with my sword!"_ Then he growled. It was an honest to goodness growl. He stood up and tried to take a step. Severus was able to see the white sparks grow before he collapsed on the ground.

Poppy swished her wand and the man rose onto the bed. He groaned but he didn't try to get up again. Weasley sat down next to the Professor and removed his arm. "Definitely not human."

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END


	7. Scent

**Untried Guardians   
**By Sqweakie the Wonder Mouse

Crossover with Harry Potter and Inuyasha   
HP: AU after book four (Harry and company's 5th year)   
IY: AU set at least after the Shichinin-tai Story Arc

Rating: PG-13   
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Inuyasha. They are owned by people with a lot more talent (and money) than me. _sigh_

AN: Guess who I found wandering the streets of a fanfiction writer's imagination. But seriously, here is what you've been waiting for. I finished typing this at work last night and I only was able to get onto the internet this morning. I'm in a really good mood so I made the chapter a titch longer and gave you guys what you wanted, sort of.

Oh and thanks to blackrosebunny451, Stinky-chan, Nox, Soramiko, Jalison, Duzzie, Mariko, AnimeDutchess (welcome back) braindead, and Key17-

I haven't planned Harry and the gangs detentions yet but I am open to suggestions. . . **hint hint.**

AN2: Just a reminder about the new writing element. Occasionally you'll see emphasized words italicized like _this_. But if you see a sentence like _"The quick dog jumped over the lazy fox." _It is a sentence in a language other than the characters are commonly using. If the bulk of the characters are speaking English the italics mean Japanese and visa versa.

AN3: BTW it's in Japanese (or pretend at least).

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**Chapter 7-Scent**

_Scent-1. A distinctive odor   
2. A perfume   
3. The trail of a hunted animal or fugitive   
4. A hint of something imminent; suggestion   
5. To perceive or identify by the sense of smell   
6. To suspect or detect as if by smelling_

It was rare for him to fall asleep during the night of the new moon. Since he was a small child he had sat up in fear and then in caution when the sun disappeared on that night. He feared that night with a fear than traveled only in his mind. Kagome had been the first one to find out, well Kagome and the runt. Then Miroku and then Sango found out and others after them. Unfortunately this small list included Koga and Kagura. Only once did he sleep away the night and that was unwillingly with the aid of spider youkai poison. Waking up without returning to his hanyou form was disconcerting. The faintest brush of his senses alerted him to the fact that he had been asleep and he only had fuzzy recollections of the passing night

Now it was before first light and he was human for the moment. He felt the first breezes that signaled the awakening of his demon blood. He secretly enjoyed the rush of sensations that built when his powers returned. The first thing that came back was his eyesight, not that he could see anything behind closed eyelids but past experiences proved that this was the sense that returned first. The next things were his sense of smell and taste, both returning as they went hand in hand. Finally his hearing would come back and the strength and reflexes of a gifted hanyou would return.

This time everything felt off. When his sense of smell returned he knew something was wrong. Where he was didn't smell like the small village he watched over, it didn't smell like any of the small villages or forests they had been to. It didn't even smell like Kagome's time. The place where he was smelled like humans and a sharp tang that reminded him of magic. Tainted blood stained the air and scents of sickness and healing intermingled into a bouquet that was repulsive.

He let his transformation finish before he started to sit up. He opened his eyes to a gray stone ceiling that hung far over his head. He sat up and dizzily looked around. Almost directly in front of him was an old woman wearing a dark dress and a white apron. The shocked look on her face was bordering on horror, but not quite. Her eyes flitted to his left before they settled back on him. He glanced to his left where a man stared at him as a younger man propped him up., both were leaning on the bed next to his.

His eyes looked to the right when a familiar scent caught his attention while he was searching for hidden enemies. Instead all he saw was Kagome. He could barely make out her inert form among the blankets. Her unnatural stillness was something he was not used to. He turned to the two men and spat out "Where the hell am I?"

He reached down for Tetsusaiga but the belt around his pants was empty, his sword was not tucked in next to his side. "What have you done with my sword?!" He jumped off the bed and stalked over to the two humans. That was the plan at least. In reality he took one step before collapsing to the ground. His stomach turned and threatened to return everything he had eaten in the past year. Something lifted him off the freezing floor and returned to him to what he assumed to be a bed. The last time he had slept on a 'real' bed he had been in Kagome's time. Now he didn't know where he was.

Voices spoke around him as he tried not to vomit. His nausea passed and he was able to concentrate on the world around him. He opened his eyes again to see that his first impression was correct. A stone ceiling was above him and unfamiliar smells taunted him. He sat up more carefully and the sickness didn't return.

"What did you do to me?" The older woman flinched and spoke to the men. Her accent was strange and the language was not his familiar Japanese. The words slipped out of his grasp before he could tell what they were. The boy left the older man's side and stood beside the bed. The stench of magic the rolled off the woman did not exist in the boy. He was almost as tall as he was and his red hair was a color he had never seen on a human before.

"Hello. My name is Ron. What is your name?" Inuyasha glared but the boy continued. "It would make things a lot easier if you tell us your name."

"Just so you know what to call me as you kill me." The boy flinched but he didn't back down.

"No. So we know what to call you instead of the-man-who-fainted. It will make our lives a lot easier."

"Like he would ever make things easy." The female voice that called out was tired and soft but both males heard her comment. The boy stood up and started to walk around his bed to reach the girl. Inuyasha tried to get off the bed to stop him but the nausea returned full force when he swung his feet off the edge of the bed. Cool hands stopped his collapse to the ground and the same hands helped him lay back down. The redhead's face swam into his line of vision.

"You shouldn't get up. Just stay right there."

"Like hell I will!" He sat up again and the same hands caught him again as he fell

"We can keep doing this or you can just sit still."

The hanyou glared but he stayed in place this time. He watched the redhead sit down on a chair that stood in place between his bed and Kagome's. With the boy out of the way he was able to get a good look her. She was paler than usual and her hair was tangled in knots. She was still lying down but her eyes were open and she was alert.

"How are you doing Inuyasha?"

"Inuyasha?" The human looked surprised at the name Kagome had spoken.

"I was doing fine til you gave out my name you stupid wench." An angry look pasted her face as an angry tone told him that he was in for one hell of a Sit. "Inuyasha, Osa. . ." She stopped herself and gasped in pain.

"Kagome!" Something tightened in his chest when she stopped talking. She rolled on her side and clutched her abdomen. The red head bent down next to her and pushed back her sweaty hair. Nonsense words in a different language comforted her as her breathing slowed down and the pain receded. Jealousy flared within the hanyou as the boy kept stroking her hair. The words started to make sense as he kept talking.

"_Settle down. Breath. The pain will go away if you relax. Just breathe. Nothing is going to happen."_ The words made her relax and the feeling in his chest became less restricting. She recovered and continued to talk. "What is going on? Where are we?"

"What's the last thing you remember?" he replied gently and carefully.

"I was at my house. It was just before sunrise."

"Do you remember coming here?"

"No."

"What about you?" he directed the question at Inuyasha. He shook his head, as the last things he remembered were Kagome and the well house.

"I do remember an explosion," he said after thinking about it.

He nodded and continued. "A couple of my friends cast a spell and the two of you appeared here. That was last night. As to where you are this is the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Scotland."

"But that wasn't anywhere near where we were. We were in Japan."

"How did we end up here?" The two of them looked over at Inuyasha as he interrupted them again.

"A spell, stupid," her anger and frustration flared up again at his dumb look.

"Did you just call me stupid, wench?"

"If you had been listening you would have already heard that we were brought by a spell."

"What do you know about spells? Does your Gee-Im-A-Tree tell you about them?"

"'Geometry' and no I don't know about them."

"Then how do you know that that was what made us come here."

"Because Ron told us," she was starting to sound pissed.

"Who's Ron?"

"The guy we've been talking to. He's sitting right here."

"Ohh, so you are on a first name basis with this guy."

"What else am I supposed to call him, InuYasha?"

"Will you two _shut up?!_" The new voice startled the hanyou and miko. They both looked over to the bed that the older man was seated on. The domineering voice and dark sneer stopped their impromptu fight. "If you would. . ." The man let the sentence trail off as the doors on the other side of the large room opened to admit a very old man with floor-length hair and a matching snow-white beard. The man carefully walked into the open area between the two rows of beds. He was clothed in dark blue velvet that hung in elegant ripples of folded cloth. A tall wizard's hat perched on the top of his head with matching blue. The grace the old man projected was a careless cover that he didn't pay attention to. It spoke of long practice and confidence that few truly possessed. It reminded Inuyasha of the way his brother held himself around his little girl, Rin. He lost the haughtiness and looked on with concealed caring that he couldn't mask from someone with the same blood.

"_Good morning," _the old man spoke with a roughened voice of age and time. Even if the man possessed the grace of younger days his voice suffered through time. It spoke of screams and smoke and of a lifetime not quite taking care of oneself, of caring of those around you but forgetting that life does damage. The words revealed the great age that the man lived with but it did not reveal much else about him.

"_Good day, Headmaster. If you would come with me I want to talk to you first."_ The old woman, not so old compared to the new man, spoke and motioned for him to follow her to a different door leading out of the room. He nodded at her and followed her to the door.

"What is going on?" Kagome asked the redhead who had his own surprised look. He shook his head in disbelief. "He ignored you."

"Yes, we noticed that," Inuyasha replied.

"But he didn't see you last night. I thought he would have come to talk to you. _Professor?_" he spoke the last as a question directed to the man lying on the other side of the hanyou. A sarcastic snort was the only response and nothing more from the dark man as he lay down.

Quiet minutes passed as Kagome closed her eyes again and the redhead fidgeted in the hard chair. He studied the boy as he shifted in the stiff chair and flexed his fingers and hands. The hands themselves were wrapped with white bandages that had a slight rust color of old blood. He stared and wondered why this boy with no scent of magic stayed with people who obviously had the power within them. The woman who he saw when he first woke up smelled like the room around her, a version of healing and herbs and the faint stain of sickness no perfume or soap would be able to cover. The man resting next to him smelled similar, of herbs and healing but there was a tang that he didn't recognize but it wasn't as unpleasant as the sickness smell around him. The old man that came later practically reeked of magic. It smelled old and powerful, a constant presence that made most humans relax and trust but put him on edge. The redhead lacked the scent of the magic that infected the world around him.

His thoughts wandered as an answer to his question didn't appear right away. He wasn't really sure what was really going on. The idea that a spell brought them from the safety of Kagome's time to a place that he didn't know of from his time was unnerving. Magic was not that common in his time in Japan. Youkai and demons were more common than wizards especially when the magic practiced was not that compatible. He knew there were magicians and the like in his world but they avoided his homeland. Youkai were naturally immune to simple human magic but he did remember once when he was a child that a powerful man dressed as a monk killed a bear demon outside his village and he learned later that he didn't use any sort of holy power to kill the creature. It was instinct for human with that kind of power to avoid demons, creatures which they could not affect even with the greatest of spells. Occasionally witches did survive in Japan but they survived using dark arts and earthen magic. This group reminded him of stick-waving and word-using sect of wizards that lived on the other side of the world.

He looked over at the man to his left. The man's eyes were closed blocking the brown from the rest of the room. He could see the sharp angles and dull black hair. Jeans and a long sleeved shirt reminded him that he had left his fire-rat clothes at Kagome's house. Right now he was wearing the red shirt and jeans that she had given to him and he had been too busy bugging and intimidating her to remember to grab his regular clothes. Remembering his missing clothes reminded him of something else.

"Where is my sword?"

The man to his left opened his eyes just to glare at him. "Didn't I ask you to be silent," he ordered in accented Japanese. The accent was different than the redhead and it was definitely different than the way he and Kagome spoke.

"What happened to your sword?" she asked, proving that her pure Japanese sounded different than the slaughtered version that the two strange men offered.

"Some one stole it and they won't give it back to me. They know what happened to it."

"I don't," the redhead said defensively.

"It's safely put away," the dark man declared with a finality that pissed off the hanyou. "Who said you could do that?" He yelled and his anger boiled to the surface.

"The decision was not up to you. You were unconscious at the time." The man didn't look the least bit sorry. Frustration welled up inside him when he realized that he couldn't even get up. He couldn't force this man to tell him where his sword was. He was as powerless as a thousand moonless nights. He had a feeling that Kagome couldn't be much of a help either. A glance over at her proved that she was asleep. Boredom played with his mind as he waited for something to happen. He was a very active person, always moving and pacing, being trapped in a bed wasn't something he was handling well. Just as he was about to test out if he would vomit if he tried to leave the padded mattress the side door that the other two, the old witch and the older wizard left through, opened to the two humans out into the main area.

He was able to watch them as the pair made their way over to their row of beds. A quiet word and a shake woke up Kagome as the dark man woke up with no assistance. The diverse group came to attention as the old man stopped at the foot of Inuyasha's bed and turned towards him. He pointed to his throat with a light wooden wand and muttered _"Adoro cibarius lingua."_

"Good Morning," he said in stilted Japanese. "I am Albus Dumbledore and I am the headmaster of this school. I want to apologize for the rash actions of some of my students that brought you here. Unfortunately you can not leave as of yet but we wish to make your stay as comfortable as possible."

"So when are you going to let us go?"

The old man hesitated before speaking. "We can't let you leave quite yet."

"Why not?" Kagome asked as she carefully sat up to listen to the wizard.

"The spell that brought you here affected both of you."

"The whole puking our guts out, yeah we noticed."

"What you may have not noticed was that your own dormant magic is being awoken within you right now. Within a couple of days you will be able to start performing basic spells and your power will increase. Even after the sickness has passed you will need training to control these new abilities."

"That's not possible. I'm a demon, I can't have magical abilities."

"True. A full-blooded demon would not be able to have magic but a half-blooded human-demon would be able to. It is very rare. Only two other cases in the past thousand years had been reported. Most of the time the demon blood represses such abilities but the spell cast on the both of you brought the powers to the surface."

"But I can't be a wizard." Disbelief spread across his face. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the scents that swirled around the room. Under the heavy odor of over-used magic and herbs he could smell a new smell, gentle and fragile, appealing instead of revolting. It took a minute to realize that this new smell came from himself. It was different that the other adults' magic smell. It was pleasant, wanting to grow into something that would be part of him for the rest of his time.

"There's now way I can be a witch." Kagome's quivering voice reached his ears. He turned to see her pale face and shaking hands. The scent of fear rolled over her normal scent and masking any hint of the new magic that may have been growing in her. "I can't be." Her whole body started to shake as the fear of what she may become increased. He didn't know how he did it but all of a sudden he was sitting on her bed holding her hands. She looked up in surprise as she realized that he was there.

"I don't think they are that kind of witches, Kagome." He kept his voice gentle as he took in her scent. Sitting this close to her he could smell the budding magic, pleasant like his own. "Can you _feel_ anything?" He made a broad reference to her miko powers. He had a feeling that these wizards didn't know about the already powerful miko in their midst. She stared at him and then her eyes unfocused. When she finally focused her eyes a small bit of fear receded.

"The energy is mostly benign but I do sense blood magic in the air."

"That would be me," the redhead spoke up for the first time since the headmaster came back into the room. "I got sick after we cast the spell so Madame Pomfrey had to cut open my hands to release the dark energy building up." He held out his hands revealing the white bandages with the rust stains typical of dried blood.

"Can I see your hands?" She asked timidly. The boy gave her a strange look but brought them closer. She gently took the damaged hands between her own, clasping them together. There was no warning when a violet light enveloped the clasp hands. The light faded and Kagome let out a satisfied sigh. "They'll be better in a couple of days. You won't need to keep them wrapped for more than a couple of hours." He nodded in surprise and smiled as he flexed his hands.

"What did you just do?" The dark man whispered. He must have walked over because he was standing behind Inuyasha. "That wasn't magic."

"It's something I learned from a friend." She winced when he walked closer and bent down so they were nose to nose. "I'm a miko. A priestess, not really a practicing one but I picked up on a few things." She looked nervous as the man kept staring at her.

"What is your name?"

"Higurashi Kagome."

"And yours?" he asked with a glance in his direction.

"Inuyasha."

"Just Inuyasha?"

He didn't respond nor did he back down. The man studied them both with an analytical interest, judging them against what he knew. _"There's old power, ancient power within them both,"_ he directed at the old man expecting that the Japanese born miko and hanyou wouldn't understand. _"The girl is pure in every sense of the word. She could very well be a priestess, an inept one if she has no formal training. The male is older than he looks and there is something that looks wild within him, fighting against himself. This power is contained by a link, to what I am not certain. They very well may be the Guardians that your Gryffindor's sent for. Untrained but skilled in other ways."_

"What are _Guardians?_" blurted out Kagome.

The two wizards looked at each other but it was the Headmaster that answered. "_Guardians_ the people who will save the world from the horrors that you have lived through. They protect those who cannot fight against the worst. They are powerful, always coming in pairs. And, they are you."

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END

AN4: Confused yet?? Just hit the little review button and all you questions will be answered   
. . . maybe.


	8. Guise

**Untried Guardians  
**By Sqweakie the Wonder Mouse

Crossover with Harry Potter and Inuyasha  
HP: AU after book four (Harry and company's 5th year)  
IY: AU set at least after the Shichinin-tai Story Arc

Rating: PG-13  
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Inuyasha. They are owned by people with a lot more talent (and money) than me. _sigh_

**AN:** I know that this took longer in coming out. I had a paper due and that unfortunately takes precedence over writing. It also didn't help that I got sick this week and I still can't talk. I got at least one doctor and five other techs laughing when I tried to talk.

Thanks go out to Equinox, Jalison, Stinky-chan, AnimeDutchess, ShanniC, Sora the Taske, blackrosebunny451, Nicnivin, MiaRose 156 (I'm still grr with you), and soramiko. And to those with questions and concerns:

Key17: Thank you so much for the ideas. _reads review again_ Visiting Sesshoumaru- that's truly evil. He's one dude I defiantly would not want to meet in a dark alley or a beauty salon. The busywork idea is a good one though. Yep, Kag and Inu are Guardians and they will have to one day fight Voldemort. . . dun Dun DUN

Mariko: Actually you have a very good point. I agree that Dumbledore probably can speak a variety of languages but I think he would be versed in European languages. I know that in America there is a lot of cross-pollination between our culture and Japanese culture (at least in the younger generations) but in my opinion (not to be confused with general opinion) is that Europe is a little more insular outside of itself. That doesn't mean that anime isn't loved or appreciated its just that I think that older generation adults (esp. those who lived thru WWII like Dumbledore) are more concerned with their neighbors and a culture that has developed so differently from their own would not be given as much time as would a familiar country.

starlynn: Ron's magic, or lack there of, is something. . . well its something that will be explained. It is very important that his magic disappeared and reappeared and I promise that I will explain it in great detail just know that he can do it at will. Oh, and about Snape. . . that is part of being a warlock and a part of his heritage. The facial structure is all the same but he isn't a pasty vampire that you think he is. The spells color his skin and make him the lovable professor we all know.

lady.miko : Kagome is powerful to begin with but with being a witch on top of a miko is going to make her that much more special. And as to why they are the guardians that too will be explained with time. Not much of an answer but if I told you I would not have much of a story and no reason for all of you to read and review.

**AN2:** Just one more reminder about the new writing element. Occasionally you'll see emphasized words italicized like _this_. But if you see a sentence like _"The quick dog jumped over the lazy fox." _It is a sentence in a language other than the characters are commonly using. If the bulk of the characters are speaking English the italics mean Japanese and visa versa.

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**Chapter 8-Guise**

_Guise-1. Outward appearance; aspect  
2. False appearance; pretense  
3. Mode of dress; garb_

The two wizards looked at each other but it was the Headmaster that answered. "_Guardians_ the people who will save the world from the horrors that you have lived through. They protect those who cannot fight against the worst. They are powerful, always coming in pairs. And, they are you."

"Oh, that's nice," she said after the old wizard answered her question, her attention already flagging, the grasp of English slipping as fatigue set in. She wasn't exactly sure what the headmaster meant but by Inuyasha's sarcastic snort he must have had an idea.

"The only _'Guardians'_ I ever heard of were humans and in case you haven't noticed I'M NOT HUMAN!" he sarcastically yelled. His demonesque form may have fooled any other person but this group wasn't fooled. She took note of the disbelieving expressions before she slumped down next to Inuyasha.

Exhaustion tugged at her even as she tried to sit up straight and listen to the continuing conversation. She lost her focus again as the witch in the old-fashioned burgundy dress walked up to her and started to wave a stick around her. Glowing light and a soft hum followed the stick's contorted path. She used her miko sensed to test this new 'magic' around her. The magic itself was gentle, subtle and while using her senses the hum took on a musical quality and started to lull her asleep. The woman babbled on in English but to Kagome the rushed words slipped past her unrecognized. She knew she should have paid more attention in class. Slow, deliberate English she could understand but anything said at a fast clip was beyond her. She closed her eyes to block out the swirling magic and the nonsense words.

"Hey, Kagome. Wake up." A familiar, slightly raspy voice sounded somewhere near her left shoulder. She groaned and tried to go back to sleep but a shake made her wide awake. She looked above her to a pair of golden eyes and the purest silver hair she had ever known. Inuyasha was leaning over her, sitting next to her on the edge of the bed. The miko must have fallen asleep after closing her eyes.

His rough voice called out again. She was so glad that he had lost that whinny, nasally tone a few months back. Occasionally his voice would still crack but Miroku said it was all part of puberty. His voice now was changing, starting the vocal deepening that was part of the path into adulthood. But he still did whine, it just didn't sound like he was talking with his nose pinched shut. It was now a whine that was punctuated by cracks and the occasional high pitched or deepened word.

"KAGOME!"

She jumped.

"You're drifting off again."

"No I wasn't." she argued.

"Then what did I just say," he shot back with a smirk. She just wrinkled her nose at him and shot him a half-hearted glare. "Since you weren't paying attention I guess I shouldn't tell you," he teased.

That lasted all of two minutes before he gave in to her pouting silence. "I guess something else happened by your house around the same time we appeared here. I heard the old geezer talking about a 'large magical event' but they are keeping _that_ under wraps. They won't answer any of my questions. Maybe you can get it out of them."

"Any idea what happened?"

"No. I think whatever did happen it has to do with why they want to keep us here.They haven't said much else. They're more worried about our magic than what we want." He paused and glanced around the large room. He bent closer to her and spoke softly. "Do you still have the shards?"

She blinked, not understanding what he meant. Then it clicked, he was talking about the precious jewel shards that were strung on a long chain. She gently felt around and the warm shiver passed through her clothes and into her hand as comforting as a sunlit room. "They're safe." She told him, reassuring him that the shards were not taken like his sword was.

"Did they explain more about what exactly a _Guardian_ is and why they think we are ones?"

He snorted and shook his head. "The idiots have no idea what exactly a _Guardian_ is. I guess a couple of kids brought us here but they didn't take the time to find out what would be showing up. They expected a pair of saviors that would protect them from the world. They got us instead and now we're trapped here until they let us go."

"So why haven't you said 'the hell with it' and gotten us out?"

"Because the damn spell affected me too. Do you really think I would calmly sit by your bedside for hours on end?"

"I've done it for you, in case you have forgotten. Ungrateful jerk." They glared at each other and Inuyasha opened his mouth to disagree when the witch in the burgundy dress came back over to them.

"_How are you feeling?" _she asked slowly in English. The woman looked older than her mother, a matronly type of woman with steel gray hair and a fine web of wrinkles laying across her face. Her dress looked out of style, something from a couple of centuries ago before electric and indoor plumbing were commonplace.

"_Better, more. . . not asleep."_ Kagome answered hesitantly.

"_More awake? Good. Can you eat? Yes?" _Kagome nodded with a little more enthusiasm. _"I'll have the house elves_ _bring up some food."_ She left and disappeared into her little room. She turned to the half-demon when the woman had left.

"Do you know what a _Howselves _is?"

He just shrugged his shoulders. The woman walked back into the main room, and after she called that the food would be up soon, she started to check the cupboards on the other side of the space. Inuyasha leaned back against her pillows, his arm resting against her shoulder. She took the time to gaze around the room they were trapped in. Sunlight poured through clear and colored glass that tinted the room in jewel-tones. The tall windows lined the wall where her bed's headboard was pressed against. Directly across from her was the end bed belonging to a row of identical metal beds. Each bed was made with care that spoke of a vigilant soul. Between each bed a tall wooden cupboard stood watch. To the left of each bed a low dressing table with drawers. She and Inuyasha were the only two patients within the entire place. The old wizard and the younger dark-haired man had left when she fell asleep and the redhead was also missing.

A small bell chimed somewhere outside the room. The witch looked up with a pleased expression on her face. She walked thought the double doors opposite her bed and the woman walked back in with a large covered tray. She set the tray down on one of the beside side dressers and motioned for Inuyasha to get into his own bed. For the hanyou's part he didn't move an inch. He glared at the woman, daring her to try to move him. The staring contest didn't last long as she pulled out her stick and waved at him while pronouncing _"Wingardium Leviosa."_ Inuyasha floated gently off the surface of the bed and drifted across to the next bed. Satisfied that he was not going anywhere she conjured two tables. The tables themselves were like the ones that went across a bed in hospital rooms she had seen in her own time in Japan. The witch placed two identical trays of food in front of the Japanese teenagers and then left with words that she wanted them to eat as much as they could.

Inuyasha looked down at his tray with disgust. Kagome looked at her own and noted that it consisted of a clearish broth and unbuttered toast. She sighed but she didn't think her stomach could take anything heavier. Kagome ate in silence while her companion slurped the soup in between complaints of the room, the view, of the fact that they couldn't go home. He probably would harp on the lost shard-hunting time if it weren't for the fact that they didn't want their hosts to know about that little gem. It could cause more trouble if it was found out that she carried part of a legendary jewel that supposedly broke over five hundred years ago. She wasn't even sure how people would react if they found out that Inuyasha was from five hundred years in the past and he had spent fifty years of his life unconscious in a holy coma and pinned to a tree.

The woman returned a while later. Empty plates and leftover food disappeared with a wave and the woman set to work checking them both with her stick or her _wand_ as she told Kagome. Translucent lists of color-coded information appeared backwards in the air between her and the woman. _"Ma'am? What does that tell you?"_ she asked cautiously.

The matron looked up. _"You can call me Poppy. These lists show how you are doing and how you body is working. It tells me your heart rate, temperature and the like."_ She explained patiently as she moved on to Inuyasha. He watched her warily but let her perform the same tests. The lists flowed with crayon box colors that danced and disappeared before the hanyou. She paused her motions and tried again. The list would come up and then disappear in a shower of broken colors.

"_You look healthy enough. I guess that will have to be good for now." _The woman sounded frustrated at her defeat.

"_Why did the list go away?"_ Kagome asked quietly.

"_It's his blood. The demon part of him is interfering with the spell. A lot of demons are immune to human magic."_

"See, I'm better that some week little human," the half-demon proclaimed smugly.

"_But he is vulnerable to magic when he is human," _the witch continued after Inuyasha's interruption.

"Ha." Kagome said with a smile. "Not so strong now." He gave her a dirty look and turned away from her. The witch shook her head and turned to leave the two of them alone again.

"_So when are you going to let us leave?" _

Kagome sat up in shock, the tiredness receding with her startlement. She looked over to the bed next to hers in surprise. Inuyasha spoke clearly in English to the woman. The woman herself wasn't surprised but the miko was. She never knew that the hanyou could speak anything besides the rough Japanese that she had heard since the moment he woke up pinned to the God Tree.

"_That is up to the Headmaster," _she told him in English.

"_Fine. Then give me my sword and I'll take care of the rest."_

"_As tempting as that is you are too weak yet from the spell. I know demon blood is good at deflecting most spell but a ritual as powerful as the one that brought you here can and did overcome your blood." _The witch explained slowly for the benefit of Kagome and the stupidity that often defined Inuyasha. He gave her a weird expression but he didn't try to convincer her to let them go again.

"_When do you think they will tell us what they will do with us?" _Kagome asked in a polite tone. The woman turned to her and stared at her for a moment before speaking.

"_Later tonight after the House Heads and the Headmaster meet."  
_

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_Earlier. . ._

Madam Pomfrey was agitated after the girl, Kagome, fell asleep midconversation. She shoed the headmaster out of her ward and Snape followed soon after wearing a hooded cloak to cover his strange clothes and tan skin. The voice was the same and he acted the same but it was surreal seeing him healthy.

It was just weird seeing the 'greasy git' without greasy hair.

When he was gone that left Poppy, the Japanese girl, the demon, and himself. The demon glared that the two conscious humans before settling down next to the girl them promptly closing his eyes and ignoring them. Ron decided it was best to get away from the irate creature. He sat down in the end bed he had slept on the night before. Poppy walked with him and sat on the bed next to his.

"How do your hands feel?" she asked quietly.

"Sore."

"I want to change those bandages. Do you think I can use magic on them?"

"I don't think so. It hurt when I let my magic out. What would happen if you tried anything?"

"It would be painful if you can't even stand your own magic. We'll just do this the muggle way." With that she stood and walked to the metal cabinets at the end of the hospital wing. She pulled out a package and returned to Ron's bed. Laying her bundle on the table left over from breakfast she removed the blue cloth the contents were wrapped in. The mediwitch revealed rolls of white gauze and blue towels stacked on top of other items. She pulled out a set of white gloves that muggle doctors used and pulled them on over her hands. A metal bowl and a plastic bottle of clear liquid were set up with other supplies piled to the side. Everything was laid out in order and the entire table was pulled between the teenager and the witch.

The bowl was placed in the middle of the table and she took one of his hands and held it outstretched over the bowl. She then deftly unwrapped the stained cloth that protected his right hand. Dried blood flaked from his skin as the last layers were peeled away. Poppy then held his hand over the empty bowl and picked up the bottle. "This is saline. It is a lot like water. No magic." He nodded and she started rinsing his hand by pouring the liquid onto his hand, carefully rinsing the drying mess from his skin and using one of the blue towels to clean off the more stubborn stains. When she had finished with the right hand she did the same thing for his left. By the time she was done she had to empty the bowl three times and open up four other bottles of the water-like stuff. She gently patted his hands dry and Ron got his first good, unbloody look at the repercussions of Hermione's ritual to call their Guardians.

A long red line scored each palm. The scar on his left hand traveled from the base of his index finger diagonally to his wrist. His right hand was marked straight across his palm to his thumb. The weeping cuts had closed over from this morning after the Japanese girl did the glowing light thing with his injured hands. The skin around the cuts ached and purplish bruising colored his palms.

"Is there anything you can do about the scars?" he asked in a low voice.

"Not with the damage that the spell did and even if I could magic them away. . ."

"You can't because of my condition." He finished her sentence bitterly.

"You are lucky whether you believe it or not, Ron. Most people with your condition can't even use magic."

"What good is that when you have to be careful what potions I get or what spells I cast?" She didn't answer as she rewrapped his hands in clean cloth. Frustration was common when he got into one of these moods. He was having a bad time with the leftover effects of the spell. He knew that the night before he should have limited his magic but Hermione was so damn pushy he couldn't refuse. Now he could barely use his hands and he couldn't even take a simple pain relief potion to easy the pain.

"Ron, from what your father told me you are fortunate to even be alive. Being bitten by a Blue Death Spider isn't something that many people survive. It's amazing that you can use magic as often as you want."

"But it's hard and it sometimes I can't because it hurts too much. Classes are grueling even when I can use magic. It's almost impossible to take tests on a bad day." He let out a thread of his magic to prove his point. Acid burned through his veins and pain spasmed in his stomach.

"Stop!" Poppy yelled out. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him, snapping him out of a pain-induced trance. He gasped and pulled his magic in and away from himself. The acid and spasms disappeared along with his magic. "Don't do that!" she scolded the teenager. The older woman sighed when she received no answer from him. She let go of his shoulders and continued to wrap his other hand without another word.

The large fireplace on the adjacent wall roared to life with a burst of red flames as she was finishing. "Madame Pomfrey, is Mister Weasley free to go?"

"Almost. What do you need?" she replied in a terse tone.

"We need to discuss the punishment for performing unsanctioned magic." The old voice on the other side of the fire told her.

"I don't agree with that Headmaster. He was unwilling to do the spell. That should be enough to spare him from any sort of punishment." Poppy finished the wrap without looking towards the fireplace and the image of Dumbledore's head floating in the flames.

"I see your point but since Mister Weasley did participate in the ritual he will have to take some of the blame. We will take into account circumstances involved. In the mean time if it is possible I would like Mister Weasley to first stop by the library to collect his fellow students and then the four of them will meet with Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape and myself. I also want the others to bring any books and notes they have collected. They were looking something up for me and I want to know how their research is going."

Poppy looked at him with sympathy and then turned to speak to the headmaster. "He will be ready but I would feel better if someone walked with him."

"I'll call Professor Snape."

"That's alright, I'll notify him. Just so you know I want Mister Weasley to eat soon and he is to come back to the Hospital wing to have his bandages changed by suppertime and the food has to be laced with Clordian Powder."

"I will make sure that the house elves know. Thank you Poppy." The fire died down to ashes leaving the witch and wizard looking at an empty fireplace.

"Damn. I wish he would listen to me for once. Stay right there. I'm going to have Severus bring up a pair of shoes for you and then you'll have to go up to the headmaster's office." She walked slowly over to the fireplace and after a quick conversation with the potions master she returned to run a couple of tests on Ron to pass the time. He sat still as an unpleasant shivers ran wherever magic brushed his skin. The magic was light enough that he didn't feel any real pain but it wasn't comfortable.

When Snape made his appearance he looked as he always did. The tan skin and muggle clothes of the morning were gone and replaced by his normal attire. His greasy hair fell to his shoulders and contrasted with the pale skin that resembled the coloring of some subterranean animal. His black robes flowed and flapped behind him like an unfurling storm or like bat's wings that let a glimpse of traditional wizarding suit worn underneath through. The only thing that looked out of place from the potion master's guise was the pair of gray and black and white tennis shoes dangling from his hand and a folded shirt over his arm. Without a word he handed the shoes to the mediwitch and glared at her smiling face.

Poppy ignored his look and put the shoes on Ron's feet that were hanging off the edge of the bed. The shoes were too big and they almost slipped off. "This is going to hurt," she warned him. She pulled out her wand and whispered a spell. Fire and pained burned his foot as the shoe shrunk to fit. Some one pulled off the shoe as the same spell was cast on the other shoe and the same pain inflamed his other foot. That shoe was also pulled off letting the agony caused by the magic subside. He opened his eyes that he had clenched shut when the pain first hit. He saw Snape crouched in front of him pouring a sandy-colored powder onto the shoe. Poppy was doing the same thing with the other shoe.

"What are you doing," he asked with a painful whisper. Poppy looked up at him and answered.

"This is Clordian Powder. It removes magic from inanimate objects. This way you can wear the shoes without pain. We did the same thing for your breakfast and your clothes."

"My clothes?" He looked down. The Gryffindor was wearing a black shirt and olive green pants, clothes he would have never picked out for himself. They were a little to close to Slytherin colors for his comfort. "They're yours to keep, same as the shoes," she told him as she handed back the shrunken shoes. "We will have to get you some more uncontaminated muggle clothes to wear since you are still having problems with your magic. Are you going to be alright walking Ron?" she asked with concern.

"I think so." He wasn't happy but he knew that there was no way the Headmaster would let him off. He could see that Poppy didn't want him to go either but she too had to listen to the Headmaster. She nodded and took the black shirt that Snape had brought with the shoes. The mediwitch unfolded the shirt revealing it to be a black hooded sweatshirt with some muggle logo stitched in a shade of green that matched his pants. It was bigger that any of the shirts that he owned. True, most of his shirts were tight and the sleeves were too short but when he pulled on the new sweatshirt it hung loosely around him and he had to push up the sleeves that covered his hands. Bending down, he pulled on and tied his new shoes without any of the magical pain that he had experienced before. He the stood up straight while pushing up his slipping sleeves and shifting his shoulder trying to settle the new shirt more comfortably.

"Pathetic. With all your magic you still dick around more than you need to," sneered a voice from across the room. Ron whipped his head to the left. The white-haired demon was sitting in the same spot that he had settled in but his eyes were open and he had a disdainful look on his face.

"You can speak English." Poppy looked just as surprised as he was. They had bothsaw thatthe girl shown a rudimentary grasp of English but the man hadn't shown any signs of understanding them. He did speak with a strong accent but the words were clear and understandable.

"Not that any of you care but yes I can. Now can I go?"

"No!" two voices chorused together. Ron hid a snicker as Poppy and Snape yelled at the same time. Snape threw a glare his way before his gaze returned to the creature ensconced on the Japanese girl's bed. The potions master turned and ordered Ron to follow him. He walked behind the professor out of the ward as Poppy's voice started to sound. He missed most of the words but the phrase 'you could have saved a lot of trouble if you told us that you could talk' came out as clear as a bell.

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END

AN3: I hope you all had a Happy Turkey Day.


	9. Instinct

**Untried Guardians  
**By Sqweakie the Wonder Mouse

Crossover with Harry Potter and Inuyasha  
HP: AU after book four (Harry and company's 5th year)  
IY: AU set at least after the Shichinin-tai Story Arc

Rating: PG-13  
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Inuyasha. They are owned by people with a lot more talent (and money) than me. _sigh_

AN: I AM SOOO SORRY! I was trying to be good and get a chapter out every one to two weeks but I've been lazy and haven't done it. The good news is that I'm done with college and I Graduated, I'm getting paid for my job and I'll have time on the weekends to work on this story. I also found this older but beautiful story Harry Potter and the Phoenix's Flight. It's amazing (I was bad and was reading that instead of working on this) but I'm back now.

I am now fielding questions on the Guardians and Ron's Condition (which will get a better name, sister dear). The best way to get a hold of me is sending an email(found on my profile cause the stupid quickedit won't let me type it in) and you can also find me on Yahoo Messenger as _starry(_underscore)_web_ online occasionally. Not all will be explained but I can give you the basics (good practice for the official explanation which I promise is coming).

The first big thanks goes out to Duzzie. I updated my last chapter and then I checked my email. I felt bad that I didn't mention you last time cause I didn't check my mail. So thank you so much for reviewing for the chapter before. I hope this starts to clear up your confusion

Big Thanks go out to Stinky-chan, blackrosebunny451, HRInuyashaFan16, Misao, Demon Master, AnimeDutchess, and animefreak17171717 for taking the time. I love flattery, it can get you many places and it inspires me to write (when I can get on the computer, grr).

Key-17: I know that I didn't explain why Inu can speak English but I PROMISE I will. If you get really desprate, just write me and I'll give you the rough story of how it happened and I think you'll like it.

Jalison: There isn't much Inu/Kag or learning in this chapter but I plan to have the next chapter be a big one and I'm excited. The two of them are about to enter a strange and powerful new stage in their lives.

InuyashaJunky: you may not believe it but I do case the profiles of the signed reviews. I haven't had the time to really get into any stories (except one or two). I will try to read your story when things aren't so hectic here.

demented-squirrel: I didn't get your inspiration, I don't know if you had typed in a web address or ifI just didn't get it (I have blond days often, good excuse if you are made an honorary blond by a real blond)

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**Chapter 9- Instinct**

_Instinct-1. The innate aspect of behavior that is unlearned ,complex and normally adaptive  
__2. A powerful motivation or impulse  
__3. An innate aptitude  
_

Snape glided silently next to him, keeping pace with his slower steps. The amusement that had bubbled up in the hospital wing transformed into dread the farther they walked. They left the sanctity of the hospital wing for the wild labyrinth that was the Halls of Hogwarts. Gryffindor and Slytherin walked side by side, following the dizzying maze of hallways and staircases that were a tradition in many wizarding buildings. On most days of the week the halls were filled with black-wearing students and too-pale ghosts but on weekends it was a different story.

The halls they traveled were empty of bodies but sounds echoed out of hidden alcoves and spaces. Midmornings on Saturdays were always noisy throughout the old castle even if one did not actually see a living person. Students from different years and different houses met often to practice spells and work on homework. Not much homework was actually done at these meetings but it was an excuse to get together. A room could hold just a handful of students or it may be filled with half a house. Occasionally one could get a glimpse of running students that flitted from one spot to another, fleeing a disastrous spell or the gossip that was part of student life.

Ron was passing one of these hidden spots when a stray spell crashed into him. Stray spells were a common danger in the halls. Most of the castle walls were protected from magic so the energy of a spell could easily ricochet the length of the school without damaging the masonry. The spell itself lost most of its potential after the second or third bounce. Without the structure a cast charm or curse was based off of, the spell became raw magic. Raw magic was harmless in most aspects of daily life. Such raw magic may upset a delicate potion or an intricate charm but it never really affected the day-to-day lives of the students. Unfortunately there are always exceptions to the rule and Ronald Weasley was the exception to the 'harmless raw magic' theory that day.

When the magic crashed into him it set off every over sensitized pain nerve and every heat nerve inside his body. The fire that burned when he brushed against magic was nothing compared to this pain. It was like a powerful acid was tearing him apart piece by piece in fast motion. The magic was burning him up with a fire that was much stronger than any blaze created by his own magic. He collapsed onto the hard stone floor but the coolness of the stone could not stop the magic.

He felt something drop next to him on the floor but the teenager was in too much pain to look up. Whatever it was that fell, it started to push at the magic burning him alive. It started out as a fuzzy feeling, a slight drop in the temperature of the inferno consuming him. Then _it_ pushed. The fires died down and a blessed coolness followed in the magic's retreat. The first thing he felt was the cold stone floor beneath him. Then he felt a comforting warmth propping up his back. The warmth wrapped around him, stopping him from falling. He just sank onto the warmth and tried to catch his breath recove from the magical attack.

"Must you make a scene whenever you walk in the halls Weasley." He jumped when he heard the voice behind him, right behind him. He could have sworn he felt the voice vibrate out of the warmth behind his back. Then he looked around. Next to his extended green-clad legs a longer black pant leg stretched past him.

"Oh Merlin."

Well, that was the cleanest thing to come out of his mouth when he realized what he was doing. He, Ronald Weasley, faithful Gryffindor was using the Head of Slytherin as a backrest. He was propped up against the professor and the man in turn was keeping him from falling onto his nose. His ears burned with embarrassment. Thankfully no one looked out into the hallway to see him like that. He probably would have thrown himself off the Astronomy Tower if anyone had seen him.

Once he felt like he wouldn't fall over he pulled away from the man. Breaking out of his hold he scooted along the floor and came to a rest against a nearby wall. He ignored the buzzing feeling he got from touching the cold stone. Snape looked amused at his actions and stood up to tower over him.

"So what did you do wrong, Mr. Weasley?" the voice taunted him.

"I got hit by some stray magic," he grunted out as he fidgeted against the wall.

"Why didn't you duck?" He winced at the tone of the cold voice, acting as if he were a stupid child unable to perform a simple task. He looked up at the man, smirk still pulling at his professor's face.

"Because I didn't see it. How can I dodge magic if I can't see it coming." He was starting to get pissed.

"Luckily for you I can." Ron was pulled upright with his right arm held in a death grip by the older man. Snape then proceeded to lead him down the hallway, occasionally tugging him in different directions. He started to protest when he felt the brush of magic to his left, where he had been walking seconds earlier before his professor pulled him out of the way. He felt magic rush past him other times but he wasn't hit head-on during the trip to the library.

After lots of tugging and one almost dislocated shoulder later they walked into the dry coolness of the library. Passing the threshold he breathed a sigh of relief. The library had its own set of wards besides the standard protections. Most importantly the room was full of magic dampeners that reduced the magic in the air. May of the books were fragile and unrecoverable information could be lost if hit with an uncontrolled spell. A welcome side effect was the reduction of magic in the air and inanimate objects of the room.

For Ron it was like walking out of a fire into summer. Magic still flitted around him but it didn't have the intensity that the halls had. Magic still pressed but it didn't set his nerves aflame, it was just enough that he noticed it. The library was one of his sanctuaries when he couldn't stand magic. No one would think of looking for him in here so it was good place to hide for a number of reasons. He couldn't touch the books or work on his homework but he could sit still and deal with the pain without an audiance.

The library had become one of his sanctuaries even before he started school. Actually, he first came here during Bill's Graduation, almost ten years ago. It was before he could handle real world magic, just months after he left the hospital. He had a reaction after the ceremony and during the dinner afterwards. His dad took him outside, a trick that had worked at home but it didn't work here. Powerful wards that protected the school affected him even outside the castle. Professor Dumbledore had found the two of them out on the front lawn, Ron in tears and his father comforting him as best as he could. The headmaster led father and son through the building to the expanse of the library. The effect was immediate. The pain disappeared ad he was able to lift his tear-stained face off his father's shoulder.

Right before he left for his first year at Hogwarts him and his parents were given a tour of all the 'safe spots' where magic was lessened to a certain extent. The library was the largest 'safe' zone. Other places he could go was the astronomy tower, one of the fourth floor corridors and adjoining classrooms, a large section of the dungeons and all the bathrooms in the separate Houses (girls bathrooms included).

He stood and relished the familiarity before something tugged on his arm. He let out a silent sigh as Snape released him and pushed him on to continue his mission. He instinctively headed to the back right corner of the library near the tall windows overlooking path to Hogsmeade. A small smile crossed his face when he saw the familiar sight. Harry, Hermione, and Ginny were all seated around one of the large study tables scattered throughout the bookshelves. The table itself was piled with open books and pieced of parchment. His friends worked on different corners, writing and reading from the books.

Three pairs of tired eyes glanced up at him as he and Snape approached their isolated corner. "Ron!" Ginny exclaimed as he got closer. She dropped her quill and ran to give him a hug. He caught her as she proceeded to squeeze the life out of her older brother.

"Are you O.K.?" she asked with a slightly scared voice.

"I'll live," he told her to ease her worry. She pulled away with questions in her eyes that she didn't voice. Even if Ginny knew not to ask him anything after one of his bad nights when he showed up pale and quiet, Hermione didn't know to leave him alone.

"What happened?" she blurted out with concern. He flinched and shook his head, trying to avoid her question. He never told his friends about his 'problem' and he wanted to keep it that way. It was easier to deal with Harry's complicated life that took the spotlight and criticisms off of him. If it were found out that he had a chronic condition that affected his magic he would be in serious trouble.

"It does not concern you Ms. Granger. Professor Dumbledore wants you to bring the research to his office." Everyone flinched, all forgetting about Snape's presence. The other three Gryffindors snapped into action, gathering parchment and stacking books.

"Ron, take this set of books. Alright?" Hermione ordered, thrusting said stack into his injured hands. He couldn't stop the yelp that slipped past his lips nor could he force his hands to hold onto the books. The books tumbled to the floor as he clutched his burning hands to his chest, a movement that let his sleeves slip to his elbows and revealed the bandages for the first time.

"Ron?" Harry's hesitant voice asked. The three were staring at him with renewed worry. His long sleeves hid his hands before but now the white wrappings were very visible. They stopped gathering and Harry actually started to approach him before Snape intervened. The overgrown bat swooped between him and his friends, blocking their view long enough to slide the black sleeves over his hands.

Snape didn't stop when he blocked out Ron. He continued to the table and started tapping the stacks of books and parchment. A twinkling of silver shimmered from his wand with each tap and after the last tap the entire table's worth of books disappeared, leaving only half-burned candles and spare quills.

"Dumbledore's office, now!" The others nodded and with obvious questions they started to head out of the library. Before Ron got very far he felt a strong hand grip his arm and pulled him along. They followed behind Harry, Hermione and Ginny as they made their way though the school. Ron tolerated the pulling and jostling from Snape without complaint so he wouldn't draw any attention to himself. He would hate to explain why the Potions Master was leading him around like an invalid.

Finally they reached the gargoyle and rode the stairs to Dumbledore's office. The headmaster's office looked as it always did, full of pictures and trinkets and wonder. The wizard himself was seated behind his large disk in the middle platform of the room. The desk was unusually bare, cleared of everything but the four slim books spread apart on its surface. Another table stood behind the old man on a higher tier and that table was piled with the books found in the library.

Ron tried to pause near the doorway but the hand around his arm pulled him along behind his friends. Only four chairs stood in front of the headmaster, one for each member of the ritual. There were three other people seated on either side of Dumbledore, all looking stern and serious. Professors Sprout and Flitwick sat to the Headmaster's right. To his left sat Professor McGonagall and an empty chair was on the other side of her.

Snape pushed Ron into one of the chairs. Harry sat next to him and Ginny sat on his other side. Hermione walked to the final chair on Harry's other side. Once the four students were seated, Snape took the remaining empty chair on the Headmaster's left.

Ron couldn't help but feel out of place in the eccentric office surrounded by his teachers and friends. All of the adults were wearing stiff robes and old-fashioned outfits. Even his friends and Ginny wore their school robes on over their normal clothes. The school's temperature had dropped with the temperatures outside and it was unusually cold indoors. He probably looked odd with his track pants and oversized black hoodie.

"I am very disappointed in all of you," Headmaster Dumbledore started without preamble. "Over the years I have watched you all learn and grow and overcome obstacles but that does not give you the right to perform dangerous spells without the guidance of a teacher. Your foolish actions caused a great deal of harm."

"But Ron is O.K," Harry tried to argue. The Headmaster turned his stern gaze towards the boy-who-lived and he became the boy-who-was-silent. After looking at the others, he continued.

"Your spell created a large magical repercussion, a large explosion in Tokyo, Japan. People are dead because of the explosion, many more now are wizards even thought they have spent their entire life ignorant of magic, believed to be muggles. We almost lost Mr. Weasley because of your carelessness and lack of research. If you had shown a teacher the spell they may have been able to guard against such problems _if_ they thought it was a viable spell, one that would help our cause.

"We also have the problem of having to teach two strangers magic, one of which isn't completely human and the other may have abilities that we do not know of. I am ashamed at the lack of consideration that you all have shown. Fortunately the school itself cannot be connected to the actual ritual but action must be taken to prevent this from happening again."

"Are we being expelled?" Ginny said with a scared voice, rocking forward and back in her seat with nervousness.

"No you are not."

"Are you going to take away house points then?"

"Taking away house points would not make any sense Mr. Potter. After talking to many of your housemates they told me that they tried to convince you not to perform this spell. Even Mr. Weasley tried. Taking away house points would only punish those who tried to convince you to follow the rules, people that probably should be awarded house points for standing up to you.

"Instead, as your punishment, you all will be denied special privalages. No more Hogsmeade visits. No playing for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Unfortunately Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger you will lose your Prefect status and any chances for Head Boy and Head Girl."

What!" Hermione exclaimed, tears in her eyes after hearing the last

"This act was a blatant disregard for the rules and school prefects should exemplify the rules and show fellow students that all must follow them. Ms. Weasley you also are no longer eligible for Prefect status. All of your parents and guardians have been contacted. The Dursleys have already replied Harry, saying that any punishment is acceptable as long as you are not sent back to their home early. The rest of your parents will be arriving later tomorrow.

"As the final part of your punishment," Dumbledore continued, "is to teach you why we have rules governing the use of magic and the teaching of students. Misses Granger and Weasley and Mister Potter, you all will be appointed as Teachers' Aids for your remaining years at Hogwarts. Mister Potter, you will be assisting Professor Flitwick. Miss Granger, you will be helping Professor Sprout. And Miss Weasley will help Professor McGonagall. For two weeks at a time you will help you assigned teachers with anything they need, including preparing lessons and helping teach classes. You all will also be helping Professor Snape for one week at a time on a rotating schedule. If a teacher wants you to assist in lessons or go into the Forbidden Forest for specimens I expect you to follow their instructions and do so respectfully and to the best of your ability."

"What about Ron?" Hermione prodded.

"Mister Weasley, I have a special job for you." Professor Dumbledore addressed him directly. "You are fluent in Japanese, correct?"

"Yes sir," he answered tentatively.

"The Guardians are both from Japan and I believe it would be easier to instruct them in their native language. What I want you to do is to tutor then in basic magical skills and about the wizarding community in general. You will be working with Professor Snape in starting their education. Once they are more familiar with magic they will start attending classes with other students but in the mean time you will be their tutor and guide into our world."

A small bell sounded from somewhere within the office, breaking the spell of growing horror of the Gryffindors. The headmaster looked towards a clock set high on a wall next to a collection of dancing elephant statues.

"Ah, its lunchtime already. I think a full stomach would help ease the shock. You four will stay here. If you have any questions just knock on the door back there," he said as he pointed to a half-hidden door in the deepest part of the room. "The Heads and myself have much to discuss before we take a look at what you all have discovered about the Guardians."

The headmaster waved his hand and a low, long table appeared in front of the four teenagers. There were three plates of sandwiches and a pitcher of pumpkin juice sitting by three matching glasses. But in front of Ron a bowl of creamy soup appeared and a tall glass of ice water stood next to it. Professor Dumbledore gave them all an encouraging smile and led the teachers out the back door into a hidden part of the office.

He could feel the heat of three sets of stare after the teachers left the room. He closed his eyes in a vain attempt to ignore his friends. He then opened his eyes and concentrated on eating his soup. It was surprisingly spicy with bits of chicken with a hint of cheese.

"You speak Japanese?" a voice accused him from his left. A girl's voice, Hermione's voice tried to question him but he didn't listen or speak. Luckily Ginny spoke up for him.

"He's always been able to talk Japanese. Him and Dad do it all the time during the summer. . . and when he is trying to ignore us. He talked that way the entire summer before his first year just because Percy got an owl on his birthday and Ron didn't get one. Its really annoying when he does it."

"Huh?" was the eloquent response from his best friend. He could see that Harry was leaning towards him, trying to get a better look at his face and burning red ears. He just kept eating his soup and the others started on their sandwiches.

"Well, I think it is wonderful that they made us teacher's aides. I know that it is a lot of responsibility and would look good on a resume but it doesn't make up for losing our prefect status. It's not fair but maybe it will be a good thing."

"Hmph. You have no idea what they are going to do to you. Why do you think that there are not any other Aides. It's a punishment. You're their personal slaves."

"So now you're talking to us? And how are you all of the sudden an expert on teacher's aides," Hermione argued.

"Fred and George had to do it for a week with Professor McGonagall." Ginny paused and a thoughtful look crossed her face. "Come to think of it, they never talked about what happened and they never pulled a prank on her again."

"What does an aide actually do?" Harry asked after finishing one of his sandwiches.

Hermione paused and shrugged. The others shook their heads. The headmaster really didn't have a chance to explain after he got sidetracked with explaining Ron's reprimand. Few other words were said in the time it took for everyone to finish the sandwiches (or soup in Ron's case). Just as the last crust was eaten and the last juice drunk the teachers emerged from the back of the office.

The Heads and the Headmaster all took their seats in front of the Gryffindors. Professor Dumbledor waved away the table and empty dishes so the space between the students and the desk became empty again. The old wizard turned to them and for the first time since they had stepped in the room there was a twinkle in his eye.

"Now lets take a look at what you have found. . ."

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_an: BTW The speaking is in English since all of you know that Inuyasha understands and speaks it. I figured that you wouldn't want to read pages of dialog in italics._

Despite Madame Pomfrey's promise that Kagome and Inuyasha would find out their fate later that night, they didn't. In reality they did not officially find out their fate for days. The old man didn't return that night while they were awake, nor did the dark haired man. The redhead did return but he said little. He just picked at his supper and pulled a set of curtains away from the wall and shrouded his bed. Madame Pomfrey did the same for his bed and Kagome's, blocking her from his view. The hanyou was surrounded by three walls of faded fabric and backed by stone and multipaned windows. Light faded as the night wore on and torches were doused.

He didn't sleep that first night. Sleep was a rare commodity in a strange place and he knew it wasn't safe to sleep and leave Kagome without any warning of unforeseen dangers (not that he could see anything but he still could smell). It was late into the night when he heard a far door open. Almost silent steps crossed the stone floor. They stopped not far into the ward near the redhead's bed.

"Are they all asleep?" a whispered a male voice asked.

"Yes. The girl fell asleep hours ago, the demon soon after. I had to give Mister Weasley a sedative to get him to sleep." Madame Pomfrey, the mediwitch, replied with confidence even though she too spoke in low tones.

"I thought he couldn't have any potions?" the man asked.

"I used a muggle sedative. He will not be waking for a couple of hours."

The man sighed and a soft creak sounded as someone sat on one of the metal-framed beds. "The headmaster is insistent. They are to remain here to be taught."

"Why can't they go back to a school in Japan? There are at least four there that I know of."

"Seven, actually. The problem is that the spell your wonderful Gryffindors cast did more than bring our unwelcomed guests. There was a large explosion corresponding to the time the ritual was finished. It ripped up an entire apartment complex. Luckily it was vacant, still under construction, but twenty-three are dead and there are over two hundred cases of emergent magic. The schools are overwhelmed. Its not just a couple kids developing their abilities early, it's all age groups. Most are over thirty years old, all muggleborn. None of the cases are squibs but that may have to do with the area hit. It also appears that the other large schools discovered new Japanese witches and wizards on their steps. Seven at Beauxbatons and at least three at Durmstrang. Some also appeared at a school in Canada but no word on the number yet."

"Is there a reason why that happened?"

"None that we know of. It may be part of the ritual to throw off anyone looking for the Guardians."

"Fudge is going to milk this for all its worth if he finds out exactly what happened. If that man ever finds out that there was a ritual preformed on school grounds he'll have the headmaster out of here faster than you can say 'Quidditch World Cup'."

"It's dumb luck that it worked properly in the first place, if you ignore the demon showing up and Weasley almost dieing. Granger was the ringleader this time and she found one of the few rooms in the entire castle where it could have been preformed. Any other room and nothing would have happened. That room used to be the old rituals classroom centuries ago, before it was turned into a bathroom. The only other really appropriate place would have been the Chamber itself."

"She's very smart, Severus. She would have known what to look for. I'm surprised that she was sorted into Gryffindor. I would have put her in Ravenclaw."

"The hat has been wacked for years. The damn rag wanted to put Potter into Slytherin. Do you know the headaches and howlers I would have gotten if the 'Boy-Who-Lived' was a Slytherin? I'd never get a moments rest."

Silence filled the room as someone took a few steps. Inuyasha could detect the faint smell of magic that accompanied the soft Latin words. "He is doing better. His body is healing and it is starting to tolerate magic."

"It didn't take him this long to recover last time." Some concern colored the quiet voice.

"He also didn't receive that large burst of magic last time either. He is usually good about avoiding magic when he starts getting a reaction. He really didn't get into a full-blown attack until after he woke up. Last night he was in shock from the spell and then the blood loss. I was able to perform a couple of blood replenishing spells during the night so we wouldn't have to worry in the morning. It's just bad luck that he was getting to a point when he would have a reaction. At least it didn't happen when we were draining out the leftover magic from the ritual."

"So now what?" The man asked. Overtones of worry leaked through the controlled voice.

"He'll feel better in the morning and he should be able to cast spells and be around magic by the next day. He will need someone to keep and eye on him for the next week or so." The woman's worn voice answered.

"The teachers will be able to do that," he said confidently.

"So what will happen to Hermione and the others?" the woman inquired hesitantly.

"Dumbledore will announce it at the staff meeting tomorrow. He also wants to discuss how we will proceed with our guests' education. He wants Weasley to start teaching them the basics: magic, culture, and polish their English skills. He is planning to slowly phase them into classes but they are going to have to stay here the entire time. We can't get rid of them and only the Heads and you will know that they are Guardians, not that anyone knows what Guardians really do. He also is worried about the demon's appearance. We can't have a demon, even only a half-demon wandering the halls."

"That problem sounds like yours and Minerva's department." The woman sounded weary and almost overwhelmed. "For the rest of the news I guess I'll just have to wait. I want you to get some rest so you can take over tomorrow afternoon. Caffeine and potions can only sustain a human for so long. I need some rest some time."

"Of course." A step was taken and then there was a pause. "Poppy, if you can, can you keep an ear out for any other strange news? It isn't comforting that the Guardians are a demon and a human girl, neither of which are trained in magic. There has to be something else going on."

"I always do. My little spies in the ministry have been sending me interesting messages already. Nothing for certain but one set of rumors is persistent. If I find anything out I'll let you know immediately."

"Thank You." With that the almost silent steps carried the man out of the Hospital Wing. Louder steps on the other side of the curtain approached his bed. Inuyasha quickly closed his eyes and tried to relax, tried to look asleep. He heard the sound of the metal curtain rings sliding along the track as one of the curtains was pulled open. A small sliver of light struck his closed eyelids but he didn't flinch and he tried not to twitch his ears. His act must have been good enough because a couple seconds later the curtain was closed and the light blocked. He didn't move the rest of the night but he didn't sleep either.

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END

AN2: Remember, I am taking any questions you guys have. If you send me an email (or give me your address) I'll email you back right away otherwise you'll have to wait for the next chapter.


	10. Explanation

**Untried Guardians  
**By Sqweakie the Wonder Mouse

Crossover with Harry Potter and Inuyasha

HP: AU after book four (Harry and company's 5th year)  
IY: AU set at least after the Shichinin-tai Story Arc

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Inuyasha. They are owned by people with a lot more talent (and money) than me. _sigh_

AN: I'm ba-ack! I know I promised that this would be out in the beginning of February and here it is the beginning of March. I'm kinda disappointed in myself but my first priorities are my son, work, and studying for my boards. It also didn't help that I had trouble looking up some background info I wanted for this story. Good news is it's the longest chappie yet and since I took my boards (if I pass, cross your fingers I won't be studying so hard next time) I'll have a little more time in my life. Thank you for all of your patience and after the very long review-of-the-reviews thingy I present Chapter 10.

Equinox: Glad you liked that line, it was fun to write.

Jalison: Strange things happen when you only get four and a half hours of interrupted sleep the night before you post a story. At the time (about eleven-thirty at night) I thought that 'Instinct' was a cool word. I have no idea why. And I don't think you will be disappointed, lots of Inu and Kag this time.

Psycho King: I kinda think its cannon. I actually don't really know what cannon is so . . . I think it is though.

GreyGranian: Thanks

blackrosebunny451: Well, it wasn't really ASAP. It was more like molasses updating this time. I'll try better next time. Got lots of ideas now that the story is rolling.

Soramiko: I'm happy you were happy. I did get a chance to read the sequel of PF, it was cool to see Peeves like that.

dOG-GIRL: Thanks to you too.

AnimeDutchess: blushes I love comments like that. As for Harry and co . . . muwa ha ha ha ha (thinks of all the evil things to come)

ForestSprite: blushes more Thank you so much for you flattering comments. I'm really appreciative and I'm glad you like my Snape.

MiaRose 156 : Thanks (and no more staying up til three in the morning reading stories, I'll tell mom on you.)

LOTRandHPluver: Danke (Which means thank you in German. I'm starting to sound repetitive so let's shake this up.)

Key17 (or KeyToExistence I think now): Sango? Miroku? Shippou? Who are these people you speak of? LOL, its coming. I'm thinking of doing a short chappie on them. What do you all think? And the shrine . . . gives evil smile, its coming just not quite yet. And Kagome has magic, it's just that now she'll have a different kind as well.

Sora the Taske : Yep, I updated and I finally updated again.

Anguru no Yami : Oh, the things Inu will do to Snape, and Kag is not so innocent either.

Midnight Lady: Before anything I want to Thank You for being honest. It's wonderful that you all have given me wonderful reviews but reviews like yours help put things in perspective and give me a different view of my story. Snape. . . I'm all for shocking, been trying to do it during this story and I don't think I'll stop. There have been hundreds of versions of the character and mine is just one more.

As for Hermione, this is something I think she would do. She is very smart and is sometimes her downfall. Take the Polyjuice potion in COS (the hair thing) and the centaurs near the end of OotP. There wasn't much to reference for her ritual and the knowledge about rituals is inaccessible to students and she did study the book well, she just lacked the peripheral knowledge about rituals.

As for Kag's family . . . not quite yet.

I am very glad you liked the muggle-wizards and I hope I won't disappoint.

ty-maica3 : For Ron's and Inu's lingual talents. . . read on! (OK that sounded _really_ bad. . .)

Zafaran: Gracious (thank you in Spanish or something)

artgirl150: Wow, way to make up on the reviews! I'm really impressed. Thank you so much for submitting them all.

Easy-Company-506/101: Thank you. Hmm, we'll have to see how Dumbledore holds up.

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**Chapter 10-Explination**

_Explanation_-_1. The act or process of making plain or comprehensible  
__2. Elucidation  
__3. Clarification  
__4. That which serves to explain or to account for something  
__5. Mutual clarification of misunderstandings  
__6. Reconciliation_

Day Two in the hospital ward was more lively and interesting, if nothing else. The witchdoctor woke them up just after Dawn. She groaned and Yasha growled. After a bland meal of toast and juice, she and the half-demon sat on the edges of their beds, neither risking moving off the soft surfaces. Inuyasha had been able to leave his bed yesterday but the witch had done something to the areas surrounding the beds and he hadn't been able to leave, which cause a good fifteen minutes of cursing not-so-quiet whispering before Madame Pomfrey closed the curtains that night. Now in the morning light the curtains had been opened to reveal the only other occupant in the ward, the redhead teenager from yesterday.

"_Ron, can you come over here for a couple of minutes?" _the woman called out as she stood at the end of the Japanese teens' beds. The boy walked over and stepped hesitantly into the watery multicolored morning light. Closer up Kagome could see that the boy's pale features reflected the stain-glass window colors that stood behind her bed. It was really the first time that she got a good look at either wizard that was in the room. The redhead was probably only a year or two younger than her, maybe even the age when she first fell thought the well. He was kind of awkward looking, arms and legs almost too long and a face that was so pale that the stained sunlight was shown in jewel bright tones, but maybe he wasn't always like that. She could see the bandages that had been there the day before. She didn't remember many details clearly from yesterday but she did remember the hands. They were cold and bloodstained before, now they were wrapped in clean white clothe, much like the same bandages she used in the past.

She then turned her attention to the woman who was talking to the boy. She was older, gray hair pulled back into a bun and clothed in a deep green dress with white apron cinched around her waist. Small wrinkles creased a face that probably hadn't seen a day of makeup. Poppy reminder her of her Grandmother, a strong willed woman that passed before her time. She was not the same person as the matron of the Higurashi clan. This woman, Madame Pomfrey, stood with a keen intelligence that was born of cunning. In this she differed from the careful book learning key to her grandmother. She had remembered that her grandmother was a proper person who had the perfect manners and looked down at you if you put your elbows on the table or laughed at someone. This woman was stern but in a business like way. Protocol wasn't the standard if what she had seen before was to be believed. She ordered men around, something her grandmother couldn't even fathom. She also seemed like she was taking things in but not telling any one else about it.

The two finished her talk and approached her and Inuyasha. Within a couple of minutes she was sitting in her borrowed pajamas being poked and prodded by a wooden stick (or 'wand' as Poppy called it) while Yasha looked on with a superior look. The woman had tried to test him first but the magical wand refused to cooperate.

"So what does 'Inuyasha' mean?" the redhead, Ron, asked curiously. The demon in question rolled his eyes and turned away, sticking his nose in the air in an attempt to ignore the human. Kagome sighed and answered for him even as Poppy poked her again.

"It roughly translates into 'Dog Demon'."

"He doesn't look like a dog," Ron replied with doubt.

"Well, I am. I just don't have the floppy puppy ears that most stupid dogs have." Inuyasha said snidely without looking at either one of them.

"I bet you did when you were little," she cooed with a smile.

"How would you know?"

Her smile got bigger at his question. "I saw a picture once. You were so cute, your one ear kept flopping over."

A snort was the only response she got out of him but he didn't call her bluff. She did get her revenge for him ignoring her teasing a couple of minutes later. The mediwitch tired of testing her with the wand so she left their end of the room and traveled to the far end that was lined with tall metal cabinets. The older woman pulled out unidentified objects and brought the whole stack back with her to Inuyasha's side. On a table she laid out the 'modern' tools of the muggle medical world: a blood pressure cuff, stethoscope, reflex hammer, and a penlight. It took a lot longer for the witch to poke and prod with the more archaic and more modern tools of healthcare.

"I don't see why I have to frikin' do this," Yasha mumbled unhappily around the thermometer stuck in his mouth. Poppy wasn't happy either because before this Inuyasha 'accidentally' broke a different thermometer when she told him to 'bite down' on the glass end. He did bite down; in fact, he bit all the way through the glass tube and the mercury core. The mediwitch had to pull out her wand and draw the silver liquid out of his body. Mercury was poisonous to a human, who knows what it would have done to the half-demon.

A question came to Kagome as she watched the witch and the hanyou continue their glaring match. She turned to the bilingual teen that was sitting on the end of her bed. "Umm, I have a question. If magic can't affect demons, how was she able to get all the Mercury out of his mouth?' The redhead gave her a weird look and repeated the question in English to the mediwitch. A thoughtful look crossed her face and after she retrieved the fragile thermometer from Inuyasha's teeth she answered her question.

"_I guess it worked because I wasn't casting any spells on him, per se. I was casting the spell on the mercury he just happened to have in his mouth. Magic can affect things around him. It just can't affect him. Wait . . . That's not quite right either. Some magic can affect a demon. It's a lot like a touch, just the lightest of touches to the top layer of skin. Only, it's just the very top of the top layer of skin. There are a few rare spells that can affect demons but they are very intricate and take a lot of power to be effective, like the one that brought you here. Does that make any sense?"_

"Sort of," Kagome answered slowly after Ron translated her entire answer. "So that was why you were able to levitate him to the other bed yesterday. But how was he able to get to my bed in the first place when he hasn't been able to leave otherwise?"

"_I . . . a . . . ah . . . I don't know,"_ the older woman confessed. She looked perplexed and unsure as she admitted her lack of knowledge.

"_That's reassuring. We're being taken care of by a woman who doesn't even know what's going on."_ Inuyasha gave her a dirty look that conveyed no faith in her abilities.

"_I'd watch it kid. I'm the one in charge in this hospital ward."_

"_Oh what are you going to do? Take my temperature again."_ He taunted.

"_There quite a few things I can legally do, such as SQUEAK!"_

Poppy kept talking, almost ranting right to Inuyasha's face, his eyes narrowing in turn. It took a couple of seconds for Kagome and Ron to realize that the witch's lips were still moving but nothing understandable was coming out. It almost sounded like it was a small bird or animal talking through Pomfrey.

Kagome caught on quick. Ron's jaw dropped when he figured it out. The half-demon's inexperienced magic must have somehow changed Poppy's voice. The woman realized something wasn't quite right and her face got really red and the squeaks got louder. It looked like she was screaming her lungs out but all that was heard was peeps and other small noises.

A smile bloomed on Kagome's face as Ron started laughing.

"Is this a new trick for him?" he gasped out between laughs. Kagome started to giggle at a thought which she then voiced to Ron.

"Hasn't done it before. I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks." She joined in the loud laughter as the other two turned their glares at Kagome and Ron. Whatever mysterious power Inu had over vocal cords, it didn't work on the two laughing humans. Ron actually fell to the floor because he was laughing so hard. Kagome wasn't in much better shape having slumped against her pillows.

Their laughter didn't stop even as the Hospital doors opened and the old man, Dumbledore walked into the ward. The quartet didn't notice his arrival until someone cleared his throat. Kagome wiped away some stray tears and Ron climbed to his feet, shoulders still shaking.

Kagome took a look over at Yasha who in turn glanced her way when she stopped laughing. She tilted her head towards the approaching wizard. He flicked his eyes towards them and he turned back to her with a wrinkled nose like he smelled something rank that clung to the atmosphere.

"Magic" he whispered to her at her unasked question. She then reached out with her miko senses. Her senses were much different than the half-demon's over-sensitized traditional five senses. Using her powers along with Yasha's smell and sight gave them an advantage back in Japan and it was the only thing that they had over the magic here. They couldn't get up but they could tell when something was coming this way.

And what was coming this way could only be described as powerful. She could _feel_ the magic rolling off the old wizard. It wasn't' as strong as the feeling she got from the jewel shards (she also couldn't see the power from the wizard like she could _see_ jewel shards) but the power was definitely noticeable. The good thing was that she didn't feel any of the ill intent or sludge she had felt in Naraku's soul.

"_Good day."_ Dumbledore said in English with his aged voice. His smile was easily returned by her and Ron but Inuyasha didn't return it and Madame Pomfrey was positively fuming.

"_Is there a problem Poppy?"_

She fidgeted for a minute and then opened her mouth to let out a diminutive squeak.

A snort sounding suspiciously like a suppressed laugh echoed through the room but the guilty party didn't make themselves known. The headmaster wasn't so discreet, a broad smile lighting up his face and a twinkle sparkled in his eye. He looked over at the three teenagers and asked, _"Who did this?"_ with curiosity. Ron and Kagome both looked over at the hanyou.

"_What! Don't look at me. I just wanted her to shut up."_ His eyes widened as the wizard laughed, not the response he probably expected.

"_It is a perfectly normal reaction,"_ he said with a small chuckle. _"Uncontrolled magic happens quite often before magically-gifted children go to school. When I was younger. . ."_ The headmaster trailed off at the pointed look from Poppy. He stopped his reminiscing and pulled out a worn pale wand. A couple woven words and Madame Pomfrey was able to speak as she did before (if one ignored the higher pitch of her words).

Dumbledore then used his wand to conjure up a plush purple armchair in between and at the ends of Inuyasha's and Kagome's beds. _"Would you care to stay and listen, Poppy?"_

"_I'm actually will be heading back to my rooms once Severus gets up here. I'll be in my office in the mean time, catching up on some paperwork. Good day Headmaster."_

She retreated to the hidden rooms behind the right door next to the fireplace. The headmaster just shook his head at her departure and then repeated the language spell that he had preformed on his throat the day before. He settled in his chair and waited for Ron and Kagome to collect themselves. While he waited he sipped on a cup of tea (where he had gotten it Kagome had no idea) and let everyone try to calm down.

"Now," Dumbledore started once he put his teacup down. "I believe I owe you both an explanation about why you are here and what the Guardians are. I wish I could tell you everything but not much is actually known about the history and the life of the Guardians. In fact, there are only four books in our extensive library that discuss or mention the Guardians by name. Three of the books do not provide much information, just some names and dates across Europe, Africa and Asia. Little else is written. There are no answers to the questions like who the Guardians really were, how they were chosen, what life did they have outside of their role? The fourth book, Razaranje Nad Određeni Član Nedužan gives us the best picture of past Guardians."

He reached out into the air and a book dropped into his hand. The book was thick and strained with yellowed pages and dark stains along one edge. He cracked it open and continued to talk even as he turned its delicate pages. "There are powerful spells listed in this book, many illegal now. But, it also offers up a description of various powers and creatures that can affect 'great forces controlling this plane of existence.'" He read the last part directly out of the book and pointed towards a diagram surrounded by jumbled letters.

"Among those discussed, many of the creatures have not openly existed for many generations. Dragon singers, the miko priestesses of Japan, Necromancers: all of these individuals have the ability to resist encroaching evil."

"But I thought that Necromancers are able to control the dead?" Ron asked with a nervous tone.

"Even if they do upset the natural balance, many necromancers have upset greater people and plans that have used the dead. They like the dead to stay dead, unless it is they who are doing the waking. The important thing is that the Guardians are also discussed in greater detail. In fact, they are explained better in this book than anywhere else but old legends.

"From what is written we know that Guardians always are paired together, one male and one female. There are many pairs at any given time across the planet but there is only one set that can claim the title of Guardian. The exact abilities are not known but there are some common characteristics found between all. The only power mentioned to the Title Guardians is a 'cloaking ability' to mask their presence temporarily, though the book doesn't describe how. They also tend to have extraordinary powers along with whatever powers come naturally with being what they are."

"Well that's vague," Inuyasha interrupted. "So exactly do _we_ fit into this group? There are two of us, but that's about it."

"The reason we know that you are the Guardians is because of how you got here. There is a list of spells that can call a set of Guardians to those in need. One of the spells is an old ritual developed by the Celts and perfects by Wiccan practitioners over two hundred years ago. The framework of that spell is just like the ritual that brought you here. This is one of the few ways that brings either the ones with the title Guardian or the pair brought will become The Guardians."

"So what happens now?" Kagome asked. Ron sat next to her with a slightly confused expression, like what was going on was beyond him. Inuyasha didn't look as innocent as reality set in. This wasn't a simple jewel shard hunt with her and her friends stumbling across Japan in an almost relaxed, definitely tense adventure. There was something that the old man was getting to and it wasn't going to be good for them.

"The Guardians naturally gravitate to where they are needed. Sometimes they come on their own initiative but for the most part fate (or something like it) brings them to where they are needed. Guardians often show up months or even years before a key event where they have fought against a major evil."

"That's convenient." Inuyasha spoke up again, interrupting the wizard. "And since we just happen to show up, we must be the great saviors that will save you from something we don't even know about. You know what? We'll pass."

"Inuyasha," Kagome said in a quiet voice. He stopped his sarcastic rant and looked at her expectantly. "It does kind of make sense. Look what happened when I was fifteen. That had to be more than a coincidence that we met when we did. If I didn't end up finding you, what could _he _have done? How much power he could have had compared to what he has now? Who he would have killed that we could have saved? And what about Sango, Miroku and Shippou? What if we are meant to be here just like we were meant to fight together in Japan?"

"What about them? We have responsibilities back there too."

A pained look passed her face as she thought about Feudal Japan. They should have been back there by now. Sango and Miroku must have been worried and Shippou would have been a basket case by now. She turned to the headmaster and a flash of black and ginger caught her eye.

The redhead, Ron, was not looking up anymore. He was slumped and staring at his hands. She watched him for a minute and then reached out with her miko senses. Innocence shone from him, calling her to protect it. It wasn't a pure innocence. That kind of innocence could only be found in babies and that did not last very long. This innocence was of a kind where it had been tested and punished but it was something to fight for. Something she was meant to protect. And not just him, it was an innocence that if she reached farther she would find more of.

Inuyasha must have seen her look. "Oh no! We are _not_ staying here."

"But we need to," she pleaded. He shook his head, a nonverbal contest of will. They had many such verbal arguments but this time they didn't need words.

"You do not have to make a decision right now." Dumbledore interrupted their silent fight. "If nothing else, you both will need to learn to control your magic. We will give some time to think about staying here and learning."

"How do you know that I even have magic? I haven't done anything like Yasha," she looked warily at him. She really, _really_ didn't want to be a witch. The little contact she had with witches in the past did not end well. One had brought back Kikyou and another one possessed her and almost made her kill her friends.

"That doesn't mean that you won't. I have a reliable source that tells me that you do have the magic within you. It just needs to come out. Please, just think about what I have said. I believe that you are Guardians and that we need you."

He stood up and the chair and teacup disappeared from view. He turned to leave but Kagome spoke up before he got very far.

"Is there any way I can talk to my mother? She must be very worried about the both of us."

"Maybe in a couple of days we will be able to contact her." He had turned to her but now he turned away at her upset expression.

"Why can't I talk to her, like with a telephone? Just a couple of minutes to let her know that we are both o.k."

"I'm sorry." With that he started to walk away again.

"If you're going to hold up prisoner, can you at least tell us what we will be fighting, since that seems to be what you want?" Inuyasha's demand was first met with silence and stillness. Dumbledore paused and with a heavy sigh he turned back to them. "There is a wizard, a dark wizard that we are fighting. His name is Lord Voldemort. I have a feeling you will be fighting his Death Eaters and whatever else he tries to throw at us."

"Are we going to fight him for you too?" he challenged.

"No, that fight belongs to some one else"

"Who? The boy with the bad hands?"

"No, another boy," the headmaster said in a saddened voice.

"But just a boy. Jeez, can't you adults fight any of your own battles."

"Fate decided this, not I." With that he turned and left before the hanyou and miko could question him further.

"What the frikin hell was that?" Yasha was almost indignant. Kagome was confused but Ron spoke up from his post at the end of her bed.

"Harry is supposed to be the one to defeat You-Know-Who. He did it before, when he was a baby."

"Who is that?"

"I don't know if you remember him. He was the other guy in the spell that brought you here, along with Hermione and my sister, Ginny."

"This is such a messed up country, whatever country we're in." Kagome's temper was also starting to kick in but it was directed at the man that had just abandoned the Hospital Ward.

"You're in Scotland." Inuyasha said smartly

"You're not helping Inuyasha," she growled at him.

"Well it's not my fault that you are starting your you-know-what."

"OSUWARI!"

A loud thunk brought Madame Pomfrey from her office to the flattened hanyou on top of a newly flattened hospital bed.

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It was late afternoon when Poppy left. They had been fed a slightly more substantial lunch of chicken broth and fruit. Poppy had run more of her test on Kagome and Inuyasha. After they were done she used the same instruments on Ron that she used on Yasha. Poppy was pleased with all of the results of the tests and finally let them leave their beds. They both took their first tentative steps together, neither not used to standing and both still wary of the spells that had stopped their movement off the beds.

They finally were allowed to get changed and washed up in the private bathrooms across the room. When she and Inuyasha returned to the main room refreshed and in fresh pajamas, their beds were made and Ron was perched at the end of Kagome's bed. Madame Pomfrey directed them back to their individual beds to rest.

"Why are you sitting there?" Inuyasha demanded of Ron, a note of jealousy in his voice (it sounded closer to a symphony than just a note to her).

"Cause I don't want to be kicked off the end of the bed." Inuyasha glared at the boy as he tried to defend himself before he lost the angry look and replaced it with a much different one.

"I wouldn't do that." He spoke with feigned honesty. He tried to look innocent, even going so far as using the big puppy dog eyes.

"Yes you would," Kagome told him bluntly.

They were interrupted by the mediwitch's presence. "Now, I want you both to stay here. No wandering around the room or leaving." The reluctantly nodded so Poppy turned to the European teen. "Ron, you can stay as long as you want but I want you to eat supper in the Great Hall. You can either sleep here tonight or you can go back to the dorms. Alright?"

"Yes, Madame Pomfrey."

"I want you to come back in the morning before class to do a couple more test. I think you can start to use magic again, though. Just take it easy for the first couple of days.

"In the mean time I will be in my rooms. If you need something just knock on the door. Supper will by at six o'clock." She motioned towards the small clock above the hospital doors. With one more warning not to leave the ward and preferably not leave the beds, she left the three teenagers by themselves. Her last visible act was the closing of the curtains around the perimeter of the beds. They heard doors close and then there was silence.

A strange sound broke the silence. Kagome and Ron both looked over at Inuyasha who was sniffing the air like some time of hound. Weird looks greeted him when he stopped smelling and looked over at them. "You don't stink like magic," he declared pointing to Ron.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Confusion must have been the theme of the day as Ron looked confused, again. Kagome, on the other hand, seemed intrigued.

She closed her eyes and when she opened them she looked surprised. "I don't sense any magic either but she said you could use magic. What was she talking about?"

The redhead shifted uncomfortable no longer looked confused, he looked self-conscious. "Umm, I'm special?" he said, hoping they would drop the subject.

The hanyou leaned forwards menacingly and ordered "Answers. Now!"

He swallowed and started to talk softly. "I'm sorta allergic to magic."

"Then why did Poppy say you could use magic."

"It's hard to explain," he spoke quietly.

"Then start at the beginning. You should tell us, the way that the old wizard was talking, it sounds like we will be working with you. How about you tell us about yourself and we'll tell you about ourselves." Kagome's suggestion made the teen pause and think.

"Speak for yourself," Yasha told her in no uncertain terms.

"Hey! I've got my own questions for you. English?" she asked him, pointing accusingly with her finger.

"He talks first and then I'll think about telling you."

Ron sat nervously and pulled his feet up onto the bed and rested his head on his bent knees. "Even my best friends, even my brothers and sister don't know this. I've never told them."

"Well, you can practice by telling us. Maybe it will be easier to tell someone you don't really know and that doesn't really know you." Kagome's tone turned sympathetic again as she addressed the injured redhead.

He was silent. It took some time but he started to tell them his story.

"When I was little, when I was four, I ran away. Not really ran away, just a little kid saying he was running away and then hiding in the house. I was mad cause we couldn't go to this muggle fair in the town we lived near. Ginny and Percy, and the twins, all got Purple Dragon Pox. I didn't get it but since everyone else did we had to stay home. I got mad and ran into the woods. I didn't think my parents cared, or at least that's what I said when they asked. Well, I ran far enough to get to a sheltered pond that was kind of deep in the woods. Charlie used to take me there in the summer but it was late spring, a really warm spring, before he was to come home from school.

"I don't really remember what happened. From what everyone has said I think I was sitting on the little dock that Charlie and Bill made with our Dad. I was sitting there when this thing crawled onto the wooden deck. I was scared of spiders, ever since Fred turned my teddy bear into one but this one, this spider scared me stiff. It was huge, the legs were crooked and it twitched to the left and right as it came towards me. I think I kicked it, trying to get away from it. I didn't go far and it came back and bit me. My dad, who had gotten home and had started looking for me in the woods, heard me scream. He wasn't far and when he got there he found me unconscious on the dock and the dead spider next to my leg. The spider had managed to bite me but it was now dead. They think that my magic reacted and I literally froze the spider. The thing was encased in a block of ice when my dad got there.

"My dad picked me up and saw that my leg was bleeding. Then he saw the spider. He spelled the ice block to him and Apperated all of us to St. Mungo's, a wizarding hospital. After we appearated in the alley in front of the hospital I started screaming, my dad almost dropped me. He never heard me do that. Luckily there was a couple of Mediwizards coming out of the entrance; they rushed both of us into the hospital, spider in tow. It was after they got me into a room did they look at the spider. I was screaming in pain whenever they tried something and the one mediwizard, a young Japanese doctor who was part of some international exchange program took a look at the spider block. Then he yelled for everyone to stop whatever they were doing.

"The spider, the frozen dead spider wasn't native to England. It wasn't native to the Mediwizard's home country of Japan either but there had been an outbreak of spiders that had come over the Pacific in a shipload of Lettuce. The spider was commonly called the Blue Death Spider. Its venom is poisonous and causes an awful death for wizards. The condition it causes is called BDS: Blue Death Syndrome. The person bitten has a reaction to any magic in them or around them. It can cause paralysis and eventually asphyxiation, a blue death because of the lack of oxygen. The person's lips and skin turn blue because of the reaction to the venom and magic and the inability to breathe. These spiders normally live in North America but since it invaded Japan, the Japanese mediwizard had been studying it, including the symptoms of a bite and the markings of the spider.

"The English mediwizards stopped trying to help me. My dad was yelling at them to do something but anything they did, any magic they used would just kill me faster. The Japanese mediwizard had an idea. One of the articles he had been reading had mentioned the idea of repressing magic and self-repression of magic of BDS victims. In the few studies done the wizards that had done this were able to live years past their expected survival time. The other doctors agreed and the young doctor went to call the Doctor who had writing the articles. Less than an hour later I was on a private plane flying to Japan. It was too dangerous to us Floo powder and too far for my Dad to appearate. The Japanese doctor stayed with us the entire way, the entire time setting up spells around me to try to block out magic.

"I was the youngest patient they had ever tried this magic repression therapy on. They had only tried it with adults, not a four year old. It worked. They had to use doctors, nurses, anyone who could repress another person's magic. They even taught my dad, who stayed with me the whole time I was in Japan. Hours every day and night someone sat with me. Day after day, week after week all those people sat with me until I got stronger, until I could start blocking my own magic by my self. The doctor, Dr. Fuyubi, was impressed. I was able to catch on and suppress magic quicker that adult victims he had been treating. After a time I could block out the magic as I slept. I was able to go a day and then weeks at a time blocking magic. The Doctor thought it might have to do with me not being trained in magic. I hadn't even used my magic til the accident when I froze the spider and he thinks that's how I was able to survive the first eight hours, the time when most wizards die. Seven months after my accident I was able to live like a normal muggle boy. But I wasn't a muggle, I was a wizard and after that seven month period they started to reintroduce me to magic.

"By the eleven months you couldn't even tell that anything had happened. The problem was that the poison still affected me, even today. It was like I was allergic to magic. I could tolerate it for a time and then all of a sudden I would have a reaction. I would start getting these sharp pains and it felt like someone was trying to burn me. We found if I suppressed my magic and all other magic was removed I would get better.

"After my one year anniversary the doctor said I could go home to England. I didn't want to go though. In that time, in that year away from England, I learned Japanese, made lots of friends and had my Dad's undivided attention. It was the kind of life I dreamed of, beside the almost dieing and spending a year in the hospital. But my dad said we had to go. He hadn't worked that entire year and that we had a family to go home to and with almost all of my parents' savings gone, he had to go one way or another. He lost the chance at the promotion he had been up for before my accident but at least the Ministry let him have his old job back. So we went back home. We didn't tell Ginny or my brothers what had happened, only that I was sick for a long time but now I was better.

"Why haven't you told your friends about this?"

"In the wizarding world, BDS is looked at the same way as lythrocanthy. People think they will catch it if you're near that person. If wizards would find out I had this, I probably wouldn't be able to get a job or go into stores. I would be exiled into the muggle world by general consensus."

"That bad," Kagome said sympathetically. He nodded.

"Can we see the bite?" This time Inuyasha spoke up, and it was with a quite, almost gentle tone. Kagome really wasn't sure she wanted to see it but morbid curiosity sparked her interests too. She had to be sure that there was some truth to his story, that it wasn't made up.

"Sure." He pulled up his left pants leg, revealing long, smooth white scars running half way up his knee. He pulled down his pant's leg and reached in his shirt to pull out a chain with a pendant that looked like one of those medic alert id tags. "To muggles this says that I'm epileptic, but those with magic see it saying that I really have BDS. Even this little bit of magic I can't stand when I have a reaction so it turns the magical writing off when I'm in pain and I have to turn it on again. I have magic. I can use it a lot but I do get reactions. I had one a couple of nights ago so I'm still suppressing my magic."

"How can we be sure?" Yasha asked warily.

Ron took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Kagome watched him and reached out with her miko senses. She didn't feel any difference, at first. Then she felt the magic unwind from a secret place within the teenager. It was different that the other magics. It was slippery feeling. The other wizards and witch she had been in contact with, their magic felt sticky. It clung to everything around them but this magic slipped by like bubbles swirling and sliding in the air. The slippery magic stayed for a minute until something pulled the slick bubbles back to their hiding place. She looked over at Inuyasha and he nodded his head. He had smelled the magic she had sensed.

Ron's eyes opened and he took a steadying breath.

"Does it hurt now?" she asked with concern.

"You get used to it." He rested for a couple of breaths and then perked up. "Your turn," he said to Inuyasha.

"Why me?"

"You're the one with the dark secrets. How can you speak English?"

The half-demon looked down and muttered something to the mattress.

"What was that, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked curiously.

"I said, 'My mother taught me ,'" he said tersely.

Kagome was surprised. He didn't talk about his mother. What little she knew she gleaned from her encounter with Yasha's brother, Sesshoumaru. Inuyasha did infer a couple of times that he had been close to his mother before her death but he didn't say anything else. This time, though, he had more to say.

"She thought it would be a good idea to learn the different languages of the different traders since we lived near Nagasaki. They would trade with her even when our _wonderful_ fellow villagers wouldn't."

"What languages do you know?" Ron asked curiously.

He looked thoughtful and started counting them off on his fingers. "Well, Japanese and English obviously. I can also speak Dutch and Portuguese, some Chinese, Italian. A little Vietnamese and a couple of other languages."

"_Wow, that's bloody brilliant,"_ Ron exclaimed, slipping back into his native language.

Inuyasha gave him a weird look but he didn't comment on the obvious compliment. He instead turned to her and gave her a look saying 'Your turn'. She didn't know how she started, but something compelled her to tell Ron their strange story. It was like something deep within her was compelling, urgering her to confide their search to the boy. She didn't think about it at the time but this urging came from someplace new, deep within her. Whatever inspired this trust hadn't existed within her when she was in Japan. As she told her story she caught Inu's eye as he silently listened. He didn't object. It was almost like he approved of her telling their secret. At it was to her like she could trust Ron, like he wouldn't betray their secret. She went on to tell him about her heritage as a miko and Inuyasha's status as a half-demon. He absorbed this all and he started to talk about his life. He told them of the Boy-Who-Lived and the adventures they had together in school. He told of his many brothers and his little sister. He ended it all with the story of how they got here.

By the time the deep evening bell rang through out the school, the three of them covered hundreds of years of history and started to build something as yet undescribed and unknown to the three of them. Ron reluctantly left, saying that he would see them in the morning. Kagome felt a slight loss at his departure, which was strange. How could someone build something that resembled a relationship in a span of hours? When she voiced this idea to Inuyasha he shrugged and just called her weird, which earned him a sit into the newly reinforced hospital bed.

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END

AN2:Ok, not exactly where I wanted to end it but I think you all have suffered enough. I have many, many more great things planned for the next chappie. Now, let's let the games begin.

AN3: The book is not a bunch of made up words, it actually means something. In Serbian, Razaranje Nad Određeni Član Nedužan roughly translates into Destruction of the Innocent.


	11. Explosion

**MAY 9, 2005**

**THIS IS NOT THE END! THERE WAS A TYPO IN MY AUTHOR'S BIO. **

**WHAT I REALLY MENT WAS THAT I AM ALMOST DONE WRITING THE END OF CHAPTER 12. **

**THIS IS NOT THE END. I'M SORRY IF I CAUSED ANY CONCERN, PANIC OR FEELINGS OF ANGER OR LOSS. I HAVE A LOT PLANNED FOR THIS LITTLE STORY AND HAVE NO PLAN TO END IT ANYTIME SOON. THERE IS A REASON ONE SHOULD NOT WRITE AFTER MIDNIGHT. I WAS TIRED AND I HADN'T REALIZED WHAT I REALLY WROTE TIL A COUPLE OF DAYS LATER.**

**JUST A COUPLE OF TYPO'S FIXED, WORKING ON 12, THE DIFFERENT PIECES ARE COMING TOGETHER SLOWLY.**

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

**Untried Guardians  
**By Sqweakie the Wonder Mouse

Crossover with Harry Potter and Inuyasha  
HP: AU after book four (Harry and company's 5th year)  
IY: AU set at least after the Shichinin-tai Story Arc

Rating: PG-13  
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Inuyasha. They are owned by people with a lot more talent (and money) than me. _sigh_

AN: Hey, it's still April so I'm gonna say I made it (or at least that's the story I'm sticking to, it's only April 30 and 11:47pm here). If any of you thought I was late getting this out . . . IT'S ALL MY BROTHER'S FAULT! First he went and got me addicted to Halo again and then he killed our computer. We are using his POS right now which is a really retarded computer with a retarded internet connection that you have to reconnect again and again. We should be getting a new computer any day so my research should go a little easier (cause I won't have to reconnect to the internet every five minutes, grr).

And I'm pretty sure there are a couple mistakes here so I might be reposting this chapter. If you see any glaring spelling errors just yell at me. It's almost midnight here and I'm running out of steam.

AN2: You all know what's coming next. . . REVIEWS! AND I HIT OVER 100! WooHoo! Did the happy dance when I saw that.

Big thanks goes out to shiroi-miko, animefreak14, AnimeDutchess, blackrosebunny (I know how that goes, I feel for you), MiaRose 156, harryptaxd204, Easy-Company-506/101, ty-maica Gracias :) , Soramiko, Fawn the panther, Jewelle2, and Cattibrie393.

KeyToExistence: Oh my freakin' gosh, why didn't I think of that! That is amazing. You get full credit for that idea. I think I'll use it, just not sure when. Thank you so much!

Nick Johnson :I did send him the answers, but he didn't write back, grr. I wish he would say something or atleast read the story. If the rest of you what to know the answers just bug me and I'll email them to you.

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**Chapter 11 – Explosion**

_Explosion -1. A sudden rapid violent release of mechanical, chemical or nuclear energy from a confined region  
2. The loud, sharp sound accompanying such a release  
3. Anything regarded as having the characteristics of destructive potential of such a release  
4. A sudden vehement expression_

By the time the deep evening bell rang through out the school, the three of them covered hundreds of years of history and started to build something as yet undescribed and unknown to the three of them. Ron reluctantly left, saying that he would see them in the morning. Kagome felt a slight loss at his departure, which was strange. How could someone build something that resembled a relationship in a span of hours? When she voiced this idea to Inuyasha he shrugged and just called her weird, which earned him a sit into the newly reinforced hospital bed.

Minutes ticked by and no one came to see what the large crashing and creaking noise was. Kagome glanced around and then called out to the matron of the hospital wing. When no one arrived Yasha perked up and jumped off the wilted bed.

"What are you doing?" she asked as he boldly opened the curtains blocking their view. He was silent as he leaned out of the cloth enclosure and looked around the open room.

"There's no one around," he said as he turned his head back towards her. "Let's blow this thing and go home."

"One, no more Star Wars for you. And two, how do you know that somebody's not coming?"

"I would have smelled them by now," he explained in a 'duh' kind of tone. "Do you sense anything?" he asked her when she failed to look like she believed him.

"No. . ." She wasn't certain that there wasn't someone else around but Inuyasha looked sure. Hesitantly she climbed out from under her sheets and onto the cold stone floor. Inuyasha had pushed the curtains open more to reveal the empty ward.

"So let's get out of here, find my sword and go home."

"And how are we supposed to get from Scotland to Japan?"

"Call your mom. She can get us a ride on one of those metal birds that fly in your time."

She sighed, "This is not a good idea." But she had gotten off the bed and was now followed his lead, digging in the dressers next to their beds. They both found the original clothes that they had come to Europe in during their unexpected trip. They quickly got dressed, Kagome on one side of the curtains and Inuyasha in the room where she couldn't see him and he couldn't spy on her (Miroku had been a bad influence and there were certain things that she didn't want him to see even if he had seen it all before).

Once she was dressed, she joined the half-demon on the other side of the curtain and took one last look around the room. No one was visible so they took off, running across the empty expanse to the double doors that they had previously seen people enter and leave. These also were not the doors that Poppy had disappeared through. Yasha's nose confirmed that there were no recent arrivals, humans or otherwise. He had heard only one door close and these double doors made a different sound when they opened and shut.

Inuyasha reached the worn double doors first. He carefully pulled open the right-hand door. It wasn't quite what they thought it would be. There was a small antechamber about six feet across and ten feet deep reaching a second set of double doors. Uncomfortable wooden benches and chairs flanked the doors to the left and to the right. There were no decorations, no paintings or windows to relieve the stark emptiness that resided outside of the bright hospital wing with its cheery stain glass and warm fireplaces.

Inuyasha stalked silently in front of her, leading and watching the second set of doors. He paused about four feet from the closed threshold sniffing the air before him. He didn't move as he took deeper breaths turn his head slowly side to side. She drew even with him without him advancing further. Kagome stopped next to him and gave the hanyou a questioning stare.

One more deep breath and he confessed, "I can't smell past the door."

"Huh?" was her intelligent response.

"There's something stopping smells from going past the door. I can't tell what's further on." He seemed unsettled that his abilities wouldn't work past a simple door. Kagome reached forward with her Miko senses but she did not encounter the barrier that had stopped Inuyasha. She pressed on fifty feet, a hundred feet and farther she picked up on the spirits and others in hidden rooms and unseen hallways past the closed doors.

"There is no one nearby." Caution underplayed her quiet voice but it gave Inuyasha the confidence to walk the rest of the way to the opposing doors. He paused, one hand resting gently on the scratched wood and the other on the dark door handle. The only thing that moved was the flickering candlelight, the only thing in the room that almost could have been counted as a decoration if the candles weren't so plain and used. He looked back at her once and at her hesitant nod he quietly pulled open the heavy door.

A cold breeze slipped out of the cracked threshold and stirred the candlelight and their hair. The hanyou's white strands flung out and reached back, almost like they were reaching for Kagome. Even if the rest of the room was in disrepair, the door opened without protest of underused metal or unoiled hinges. He cautiously looked out the door, his hair whipping back and forth blocking her view. She trained all her senses on the unseen territory past the double doors. All her focus was on what was in front of Inuyasha, the unknown given her full concentration. She was prepared for anything in front of her.

Then something grabbed her _from behind_, almost pulling her off her feet. She screeched and ducked, trying to pull away from whatever had her. It held on to her shoulders and swung her partially around. A blurred object to her left came at her and she reacted. She just wanted it to get away from her, she wanted to be safe. The only way she could describe it later was like something was going to explode in her so she made it explode outside of her. 'Explosion' was a good way to describe what happened to the floating object. She watched with fear as the unidentified object shook and proceeded to explode with force. Whatever had grabbed her in the first place swung her all the way around and shielded her, protected her from the uncontrolled flare-up of magic and unidentified liquid she had seen for the half-second she was in view of the explosion.

A painful gasp emanated from the person above her, the one that had grabbed her and shielded her. She could see the liquid fly past her, around her, and strike the wall and staining a wooden bench in front of her.

"What the F'n hell was that!" Yasha swore from his post at the door. "Kagome?" She heard slight movement as her unseen saviour straightened up and released one of her arms.

"Kagome!" the demon exclaimed. 'He must have turned around,' she thought to herself. She could no longer feel the wind but she bet that it was keeping her smell and the stranger's from his sensitive nose. "Let her go!" he ordered. She couldn't turn around to see what was happening due to the remaining hand. She still tried to struggle and get away but the hand snaked around and grabbed her opposite shoulder. The arm belonging to the hand pressed just below her vulnerable throat and effectively stopped her from getting away.

A spoken word shut the door, causing a loud bang and blocking that means of escape. _"I have no intention of hurting her. Just step away from the door and we can discuss in the ward._" The voice sounded familiar but with everything that had happened in the past couple of days she couldn't be sure of anything.

"_You asked for it,"_ was Inuyasha's reply. She heard the almost silent scuffle of feet she always associated with him preparing to jump at an opponent. With an inarticulate yell he leaped at her and her captor, her savior. But he didn't get that far. The stranger yelled _"Impedimenta**" **_followed with _"Aegis Ipseidis"_. She heard the hanyou crash into something that she could not see.

"Who are you?" Inuyasha asked, demanded of the stranger. She heard the man snort and with a motion she barely caught out of the corner of her eye he did something. Silence hung in the dreary antechamber, a void that was broken by Yasha's "Oh, you." It was a disgruntled statement but he didn't try to attack again.

"Come on," the man ordered. He didn't ask anything as he pushed her inside the hospital wing. She sat down on a bed along the wall, Ron's bed if she had paid attention. Inuyasha came in but refused to sit down. Instead, he leaned against the door jam, arms crossed in a typical 'bad-ass-half-demon' pose.

Kagome rubbed an abused shoulder while the stranger threw into the smoldering ashes scattered in the fireplace. A green fire sprung up out of the ashes. "Poppy Pomfrey," he addressed the fireplace as the fire danced and twisted. The green flames shivered as a voice came out from beneath the mantle.

"_What do you need Severus?"_ a sleepy voice emanated from the stone and flames. It was rough with sleep but the speaker wasn't anywhere visible. Kagome would have bet that the voice was coming from within the fire if she knew that that wasn't possible.

"_I need you to come and treat a person with burns."_

"_A student?"_

"_No,"_ he said after pausing.

"_I'll be down there is a minute, watch out." _The voice was silent after that and Kagome still hadn't figured out where the woman was.

The stranger nodded at the fireplace and left the green fire burning under the man high mantle. He finally turned from the fire and the miko got her first good look at his face. Actually, it wasn't her first look. The stranger was the man with the dark hair, from when she first woke up in the hospital wing.

"You're a _professor_, right?" Kagome's question drew the dark man's attention to her. She really had no idea who he was but Inu wasn't attacking him so he might be alright. The man didn't answer her question as the green fire shivered and flared up. The tops of the flames weren't even visible as a dark shape took form within the heat. Finally the dark figure stepped out and Madame Pomfrey proceeded to brush off soot from her plain bathrobe. Her hair was pulled up in a bun but strands escaped giving her a frazzled look.

"What is going on?" she asked of the man. She looked over at Kagome and Inuyasha, looking them over for the burns that the man had mentioned. "They look alright to me."

"I didn't call you for them. I called you for me." As he spoke he turned his back to her so whatever he was talking about was in the best light. The woman let out a small gasp as she got her first look at the professor's backside.

As the mediwitch approached and examined the man Inuyasha leaned over to her. "He had some pretty good burns on his back. What did you do?"

"I didn't _do_ anything."

"Ok, so the soup did it. It just decided to explode because you shrieked."

"I am not a witch!" She tried to tell him (and herself).

A humph was his only answer.

"Wait a minute. Soup?"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It was a Sunday night. It was a rushed time of copying notes and doing homework that could have easily been done days before. For some, the homework didn't end, not even at supper time. For others, Sunday was the last chance to goof off before the mundane class routine started again. Ron paused in the open door, not part of the homework procrastinators nor the fun-grasping students enjoying their last moments of weekend freedom. Dinner was in full swing so only a couple of people noticed his later arrival. Unfortunately Draco Malfoy was one of them.

"Hey Weasel, lost with out your Potty?" Laughter erupted from the Slytherin side of the Great Hall.

"Hey Malfoy, I wonder how a certain white ferret we know would look with bright pink hair," Fred yelled back at the standing Slytherin. He sat back down quick, a traitorous red staining his cheeks with embarrassment. Ron said a silent thanks at his brother's timely interruption. With everything that had happened he couldn't deal with a stuck-up prick. It made his wand hand itch with revenge and the rest of him hurt with the thought of magic.

Ron made his way to his usual seat at the Gryffindor table, his year mates around him and the twins farther down the table. Ginny decided to sit by Harry and Hermione tonight and even the twins were closer than they normally were, worry held close in everyone's eyes. He was surprised when the twins stood up in unison and both came over to sit by him and his friends. Hermione had tears in her eyes and he was sure if she hadn't been sitting on the other side of the table she would have given him a hug. Ginny, who was sitting on his side, did just that. She gave him a hug, making sure that her brother was really here. This was the first time he had been alone with his friends and family since this whole Guardian mess had started. Brave faces that were for the sake of their teachers had disappeared and worry and concern shone full force from his friends.

"Ginny filled us in. How are you doing now?" asked George. Fred nodded and Ron answered with a quiet 'fine'. All other questions were postponed as Ron heaped his plate with roast beef and potatoes from a platter in front of him. Hermione lost some of her worry at watching him dig in and Harry started to eat again, but he kept an eye on his best friend.

Ron didn't notice as he enjoyed eating without worry. He had a reputation for eating like a horse but half the time at home he ended up hiding in the bathroom and throwing up. His parents couldn't afford a lot of Clordian Powder. The stuff could be used anywhere, even food. When he was having a reaction at home we would eat as much as he could and go to his room, either making it to the bathroom not long after or puking his guts out in a bucket in his room. At Hogwarts, the entire House Table's food was laced with Clordian Powder. It gave everything a slightly spicy taste but no one noticed it so he never had a problem eating the food not tainted by magic. He could have used the powder at home but with such a limited supply his mother saved it for the really bad days.

The worry faded and the concern was hid as the dinner returned to its normal routine of jokes, homework and some very improbable stories provided by Fred and George. At one point Harry got his attention and asked what happened. He stalled his best friend, saying he would tell him and Hermione tomorrow. People were starting to leave the great hall when the Head of Gryffindor, Professor McGonagall, approached Ron and his friends.

The Gryffindor heard Ginny say "Oh no!"

Ron gave her a funny look, to which she said "Don't you remember? Mom and Dad are coming tonight!"

Ron had forgotten. In all the excitement and him having a reaction, he forgot that his parents were coming. His face paled and his ears burned and turned red. It was bad enough that he was going to have to work with the greasy git for the foreseeable future, he'd have to listen to his parents lecture about how he was a child and it wasn't up to him and his friends to make 'adult' decisions, forget that he was fifteen and he and Harry and Hermione had been doing this sort of things for years.

"If you would come this way. . . yes Fred and George, you too." The twins cautiously stood as Professor McGonagall motioned to them too.

"What did we do? We didn't do anything," was George's defense.

"Well there was that one thing. . ."

"Shut up Fred!"

The older woman turned back to address them. "No, the two of you are not in trouble. Your parents want to see you for a minute."

"Why are Mum and Dad here?" Fred asked as he walked backwards to see the younger students.

George looked at his brother and then looked over at Ron and Ginny. The former's ears were burning red and the latter was blushing.

"Oh, they got in enough trouble to call in the parental unit, huh Fred. Don't they grow up fast?" he told his brother in a goo-goo gah-gah tone.

"Sods off you two!" The red in Ron's ears spread to the rest of his face.

McGonagall ignored them all and led the group to her classroom on the second floor. She ushered them all inside. Four people waited inside. One pair was Hermione's parents, both tired and worried. Her mother rushed over as soon as she saw her daughter, her husband following close behind. Deeper in the room Ron's parents waited. They both looked anxious but they were both hiding it, badly.

His mum was sitting by one of the desks ringing her hands and his dad was standing behind her rubbing her back. With their entrance their mum stood up and grabbed Fred and George in a hug.

"I'm so happy to see you are doing alright." Her voice was teary sounding and as she pulled away she had to wipe away stray tears. Next she pulled Ginny into a crushing hug. Finally it was Ron's turn. She reached out to him. He couldn't help but flinch. She pulled back instantly with a hurt look on her face. It wasn't her fault, really.

His mum was always a witch, magic came to her easy. That easy magic came with a price: she couldn't suppress it. She couldn't hold any of her magic back, it spilled around her and filled the space around her. Where his sister's magic was sporadic and his brothers' was controlled, his mother couldn't stop a single spark of magic. It rubbed against Ron's 'delicate' condition and even good days he would shy away from contact. This wasn't a 'good day' so her touch was wanted but painful.

His mom backed off as his father came forward and put an arm around his shoulder. A blessed lack of magic surrounded him provided by his father. Where his mother could do nothing to block magic, his father was an old pro at blocking magic. He had learned years ago when Ron was in a hospital in Japan. It was a comfort that his father could block out the magic for him sometimes.

His mother gave him one last tearful look before giving Harry a hug (who had come up with everyone else). It was not long after that Professor McGonagall led the twins and Harry out of the room. She told them to head back to the dormitories when done 'visiting' with their parents. 'Visiting' really meant 'lecturing' as Ron's Mum turned to Ginny and started in on her, on how much danger she and the others were in.

While Ginny was distracted and Hermione on the other side of the room with her parents, Ron's Dad led him through a door into an office. Once the door closed his dad gave him a hug and asked "How are you really doing?" But he didn't ask in English, he asked in Japanese. It was their private language that no one else in their family spoke.

"It comes and goes. My hands are the problem." His dad winced and took a look at a bandaged hand. The marks were hidden by the white cloth but his father looked upset all the same.

"Madame Pomfrey called us that night and this morning to tell us what was happening. Your mother and I were so worried. What possessed you to try a spell like that?"

Ron dropped his head in shame at his father's question. He really hadn't been thinking, he just did what Hermione wanted him to do. He knew he was going to have a reaction but he thought he could handle it. They had done dangerous stuff before, but he didn't think he would get hurt. He didn't think his parents would worry.

"Do you promise you will never do something like that again?" His father was very serious, something he rarely was outside of work. Ron nodded reluctantly. He wasn't sure if he could keep the promise but it would ease his father's worry if he said yes. With his nod, his father's face brightened up. A smile bloomed on the man's face and years lifted.

"Well, your mom should be about done in there. We have to go soon because I have to get back to work. But, before I go, Joe and Ami sent some things. Poppy also called Dr. Tajiri and they got together some clothes for you. They sent some things you left there from the summer and also some new things they bought or were saving.

Mr. Weasley proceeded to open the trunk by the window. Ron stood next to him and started to laugh at what was sitting on top. There were t-shirts and sweaters, a couple sets of plain black robes among the things there. He pulled out a black shirt that said "I left the house for _this!_" and held it up. A lot of the shirts he didn't recognize.

"It seems they had fun finding you clothes. I just asked them to send your extra shirts, not a new wardrobe." His father shook his head but they put everything back in the trunk. "Poppy will take this up tonight and put everything away. It's all magic-free, including the robes."

"I'll send them a letter as soon as I can," he told the older man. After the last shirt was folded and the trunk closed his dad led him out of the room to where his mother looked out of breath but a little happier. They said their goodbyes and he forced himself to give his mother a hug to reassure her that he was ok. After that he, Ginny and Hermione left the room and headed back up to get some sleep. Tomorrow was Monday and that meant only one thing, the day from hell.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

In the mean time, while Kagome and Inuyasha were talking after the soup incident and Ron was speaking to his father, Poppy led Snape to the bed next to Kagome's.

The professor had been in Poppy's office (just returning with sandwiches and bowls Beef Vegetable Stew for their guests) when he heard the main doors open. He left the office with the food hovering on a tray a couple of feet behind him. The Potions Master noticed right away that the curtains were open. Poppy had said she had closed them in case a student came in. He silently walked to the beds, but he didn't get that far. To his right he saw the door close behind the girl, Kagome. Again he walked with near silence but this time it was to the double doors that led out of the hospital wing. Se stood and listened to the muffled conversation that the two foreigners were holding. His patience paid off when someone opened a far door.

The chamber between the hospital wing and the hallway on the other side was set up so if someone opened the outer door, the inner most set would open by themselves. The set in front of him parted to reveal the antechamber outside of the hospital. The male demon was at the far end holding that door open and the human girl was only half-way through the room.

There were some things that came with the territory when one was a Warlock. A lot of his magic was nonverbal and did not need wand motions to work. He often walked silently or made his presence known with nonverbal magical cues. He instinctively used his abilities in everyday intimidation of students. However, there were more practical uses for this ability. Here Yasha's abilities were supersensitive natural senses and Kagome sensed life and demons, Severus Snape sensed the very magic in the air and stone. He opened himself to the magic like he had done the night of the ritual. The bland colors of the room exploded in a prismatic dance of magic and shimmering color. With his added sense he was able to see the wild magic in the two in front of him and he could also observe some of the safety precautions on the door. The more noticeable feature was the negative pressure spells that sucked air into the small room and directed it out the other side. The wind was invisible but its effects were not. Snape could see the wind pull at the demon's hair.

Silence remained around him and the little sound he did make was pushed back by the wind. This gave him the chance to surprise both of them and keep them confined where no one else would find them. The rumors had already started but as far as the general school populace was concerned it was just two humans which dumb luck had brought here. So he did the only think he could think of at the time. He grabbed the girl's shoulders planning to spin her around to give her the lecture of the life time.

Things didn't go quite as planned.

Her instincts must have kicked in because the shorter girl tried everything to get away. She twisted, she pulled, she tried to drop to the ground, hell, she might have even bitten him. His unspoken spells kept the commotion from the hanyou but the girl fought on. He swung her partially around to avoid being kicked when the magic in the room flared. What had been a twinkle of cobalt blue magic in the girl erupted and spilled out off her physical form. The magic that had only recently awaked grew in intensity, an intensity that was directed at the food tray that he had forgotten, the one that was still at his back. The uncontrolled magic, _all_ of the magic poured into the floating food and subsequently the bowl of soup perched on the closest edge. He did the only thing he could think of. He turned the girl around so he was between her and the soup and braced himself. There wasn't enough time to prepare anything complicated like a shield without dropping the silence spell. So when the soup exploded with force all he had to protect himself and the girl was his own back. What he didn't know was that the soup had not only exploded, it had heated up with the force of magic so when it hit him it burned though multiple layer of cloth and skin.

The shock of burning liquid caused him to drop the silence spell and the sound of the explosions slipped past the wind to the half-demon's ears. The sound caused him to turn around and subsequently attack him. This time Severus had the time to prepare a shield spell and that (along with an Impedimenta) stopped the demon long enough so he was able to reveal his true face under the make-up spells. The demon did not continue his attack and he was able to get them both back into the hospital wing so he could call Poppy to heal him.

"Why do I have to always be the frikin' martyr?" he muttered to the older woman as she slathered a cooling paste across his damaged backside.

"You can blame that on your brother. You two are too much alike and he would do the same thing." She had been asleep when his call awakened her. Normally he would have treated the person himself and would have modified their memories but there was no way he could heal burns on his own back.

"I should have never introduced you to Jack," he said with some regret. Poppy had accidentally met him and his brother in the states years ago when he had just gotten his Master status. She kept in touch with his older brother and the two of them got along famously.

I think he's sweet," she told him. "And he definitely has a better temper than you."

"That's because you've never been on his bad side. He thinks you're wonderful and I know what you are really like, and how he can be." It wasn't much of a comeback but it quieted her down.

While the mediwitch was working, the demon started pacing in the open space between the rows of beds. When Poppy finished and went back into her office the hanyou confronted the Potions Master. Snape had stood up and was halfway to the office himself when the demon spoke.

"Why are you trying to 'protect' us? Just let us go home." The tone was not pleading, it was angry and frustrated with the human and the whole mess that the Japanese teen had found himself in.

"Do you know how much danger you would be in?" he countered. "You are both untrained and . . ."

"I can protect myself," Inuyasha interrupted him. "I don't need some weak little human coddling me like a pup."

Severus was frustrated and had little patience left. Well, his patience went out the window and he blew up at the half-demon. "Demons don't exist anymore. Don't you get it, you ignorant fool! They disappeared years ago. If someone found out that you were alive you would be taken apart for potion ingredients or experimented on until they broke you or they ran out of ideas and just killed you and dumped your body off where no one would find it. No one knows that you are part demon, they think you are human and we are going to have to hide you as a human for now."

"No! Screw this, come on Kagome."

Inuyasha the halted pacing and proceeded to leave. What the hanyou didn't expect was the human to stop him. Sure, he had stopped him outside of the hospital wing but that was more of a surprise attack than anything. This time he thought he was prepared. What Inuyasha didn't count on was that the man had more tricks up his sleeve. He didn't know that Snape was a Warlock but if he did he may have paused for a second but he probably would have pushed on. But since Yasha thought he was dealing with a common wizard he made a break for the door.

An invisible wind picked up and spun a barrier around the perimeter of the room, blocking all the doors and protecting the delicate stain glass windows. Days of frustration and inactivity boiled over and the demon lost his temper and attacked the human wizard daring to keep him here. He held back and just used his claws. He could have brought out the power , the Sankon Tetsusou, but the hanyou decided he was only going to strike him with his bare hands.

The warlock was forced to retaliate and he didn't hold himself back as much. He knew that common magic wouldn't work on a demon,_ but,_ he knew that other types of magic would work. Working with instinct, he drew a small pattern in the air with his left hand and spoke a jumble of words. Right before the demon would have hit him he held out his right hand, bracing it on the air. A wall of ghost runes appeared before him and stopped the demon, causing him to bounce off the once unseen wall and slide to the other side of the room.

The demon got his bearings and Severus let the wall drop. That trick would only work once so tried a different tactic. He dropped into a fighter's stance, his left foot in the lead and the right farther back for balance. His last altercation with the demon proved that he would attack with little hesitation. This next strike of the warlock's would have to stop him quick once and for all. Switching languages he started a low chant at the demon stood in his own pose. Severus held out his left hand with is palm to the floor and brought his right arm back with that had also at the same level as the left.

He waited for the demon to make his first move. Yasha broke towards him but this time his fingertips glowed with a sickly yellow energy. The magic within the demon faded as a new color took hold. It was a sickly reddish-black that coursed thru him and brightened into the yellow of his claws. The warlock braced himself and when the demon was less than ten feet away he made a small scooping gesture and threw his arm out in front of him while bringing his left arm back for counterbalance. The warlock looked like he had scooped air but he threw out a tremendous blast of white hot raw magic at the demon. The demon was only partially successful in getting out of the blast's way. He was hit on his left side as he ducked. The remaining energy was caught on another rune wall behind the demon. Severus had not banished the wall from before but had held it outside of this plane and brought it back behind the demon. Not only was the excess magic caught, it stopped damage to the far cabinets that housed Poppy's expansive collection of muggle medical supplies.

The hanyou remained on the floor, shock written on his face. He looked at the human still holding his arm stretched out and then back to the wall and the magic caught like an insect on a spider's web.

"Now I don't want to hurt you more." The warlock's tone was stern and final. "We want to _help_ you but you have to give a little too."

"And _you_ will not touch him!" a voice cried out to his right. He glanced to the right but didn't drop his hand. He did pause however. The girl, Kagome, held a glass she had picked up somewhere. It was empty but in her hand it glowed with an unnatural purple light. What had made him pause was that she was standing where the perimeter wind should have hit her. The air around her was completely still. With his warlock sight he could see that the magic didn't exist in the purple light. It was something he had only read about but had never seen but it was easily recognizable.

"Your kind are also supposed to be extinct, Miko."

The girl didn't look surprised at the title he gave her. She kept the glass in her hand, unconsciously purifying the very air around her. The small glass could turn into a deadly projectile if she threw it at him. He just nodded at her and relaxed his arm. A small wave banished the rune wall and the magic fireball with it. Poppy finally emerged from the cover of her office and the girl gently put down the glass.

The mediwitch cautiously walked into the ward and proceeded to cross the space to the demon. She helped him up and Kagome also helped to get him seated on a bed. Severus rummaged in one of the cabinets and returned with bandages and a foul smelling green goop in a clay jar. Poppy gave him room to spread out the supplies.

"Now I need you to life up your shirt so I can put something on that burn."

"Like hell I will!" He seemed to bristle and leaned away from the human.

"You are going to have to trust me at some point, just like I'll have to trust you." He said the last with a trace of disgust that couldn't be helped. "It will go quicker if I do it. I have healed these kinds of wounds before."

"Are you a mediwitch?" the demon asked with a smart tone. Snape looked at him coolly and said, "Registered first level Mediwizard. I got that when I was training and working on becoming a Potions Master. Now lift your shirt and hold still."

This time Inu complied. He wrinkled his nose in disgust when the Potions Master opened the jar of green goop. Foul-looking and foul-smelling, it was the best thing for raw magic burns. As he put on the paste he talked quietly to his patient to distract him from the painful work. "My sister used to get burns like these all the time. Usually when she was mad, which was often. When the two of us were old enough we would take care of one another so we wouldn't have to disturb our father."

"What were her burns from?"

"The magic she had in her that she couldn't control." The demon paused, deciding if he believed the warlock.

"What about you?" he finally asked Snape.

"What about me?"

"What did she treat you for?" the hanyou asked with frustration.

He smiled a grim smile, "Massive headaches from magic and other things. They always would put me in a bad mood." It only took minutes to cover the burn with the green paste and a couple more minutes to wrap bandages to cover the paste. Once he was done with that he quickly fixed the burn hole in the demon's shirt and let Poppy finally check his vitals.

Finally, once Poppy was done examining him and both Inuyasha and Kagome were eating something the elves had brought up from the kitchen, Professor Dumbledore came into the hospital wing asking "Did I miss anything?"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Days.

It had been days.

Eight days if he wanted to be specific, but with no one else around he didn't have to be precise. It had been nine days since Inuyasha and Kagome had traveled down the well and it had been eight days since they were supposed to return. It was supposed to be safer there, Damn It!

A gloved hand pushed back hair that kept falling in his eyes. His purple and black robes twisted and pulled around his legs. Miroku was frustrated. They should have been halfway to where ever the next elusive shard was. This was something they all had gotten used to since the Shikon no Tama was shattered again not more than a year ago. They were searching for the grain-sized fragments before the two missing ones left and it was past time to move on. He was anxious, and so was the wind.

The wind twisted some more as he stood on the bare hill above the rice paddies. He gave in and closed his eyes. The wind spun around his cursed hand and then took hold of the cloth and the flesh, pulling him forward. It felt like a cool hand held his hand and led him across the hill. The wind spun around him once last time in parting.

He opened his eyes and followed a trail of leaves and dust down the hill and to the west. He heard an almost silent crunch of footfall behind. He didn't have to turn around to know who it was.

"Did you feel it?" she asked and she stopped next to him, looking over the fields below the hill. She was close but she wasn't quite touching him. He had no urge to reach over and do what he normally did. He never did when the wind came. Instead he just nodded and pointed with his right hand over the field to a distant spot past the mountains.

"She wants us to go there." He knew that Sango could not see what he saw, only Kagome could, but Kagome wasn't here. He looked over to his companion, his friend, something more. "It's time to go."

Sango just nodded and shouldered her Hiraikotsu higher on her shoulder. "Shippou won't be coming. He wants to wait here, incase Kagome comes back. Kirara and I are ready to go whenever you are."

"I'll meet you back at Kaeda's." His voice was quiet but final.

So Sango left him. No one in their little group was comfortable when this happened. The just left him alone for a little while, it was unsettling for him too. It had started after Kagome had reshattered the Jewel to keep the completed orb from Naraku and Mouryoumaru. This time the shards were broke into fine, sand-like shards that were almost impossible to find at a great distance, even for Kagome.

The wind had started not long after that. And other things started as well. . . He finally turned to watch Sango descend from the lone hill. Something caught in his chest almost driving everything else from his mind. Something had changed between the two of them. On some level something had 'clicked' according to Kagome. The wind blew one last blast causing Sango to look back at him. A small smile tugged at his lips before the wind stopped and the world came crashing down.

Kagome and Inuyasha were gone and there was no way to find them unless he waited five hundred years to look. So he put his missing friends out of mind and followed his Sango. They had a job to do, a shard to find before Naraku or some other demon found it. Miroku left the hill and the wind followed behind, watching and fluttering behind him, watching him and Sango head off.

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END **(of chapter eleven, not the story!)**


	12. Pensive

**Untried Guardians  
By Sqweakie the Wonder Mouse**

**Crossover with Harry Potter and Inuyasha  
HP: AU after Goblet of Fire (Harry and company's 5th year)  
IY: AU set at Two Years after the Shichinin-tai Story Arc**

**Rating: PG-13**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Inuyasha. Oh how I wish I did…**

**AN2:** OK People, my original Author's Note that was here I decided to move down to the bottom. Just scroll down past the column of 'ooo' at the end if you want to read it first. It was taking up room and unfortunately there were a couple of things that were more important that my continuous babbling. Number One is that I read the Half Blood Prince. Most of you don't care, but if you do, these are my thoughts.

These are my thoughts: _oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, OH SHIT!_

Sometimes we think of the worst of people and we are a hundred percent wrong. Other times we try to think of the best. We honestly believe someone isn't as awful as they truly are. We want to forgive, and sometimes that naïve hope turns around and bites us in the ass. You probably know who I am referring to. I raise my glass to the Evil!Snape camp.

Unfortunately if I followed J.K.R.'s story faithfully I would have to end my story here. When I started UG I had no idea what Snape's past was, who were his parents, what he really was capable of. Luckily we all live in a world that includes AU's. I came up with my own backstory about Snape, filling in whatever blanks there were from the last five books. So from now on my Snape is not the same Snape as the book. They aren't even within spitting distance of each other. So I don't want to hear how this isn't like the books. I split paths after GoF and I'm sticking to my naïve beliefs.

The second thing is that I now have a Beta. **Everyone welcome E****luriana** Hopefully between the two of us we'll pick up on those pesky spelling mistakes I keep missing.

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**Chapter 12 – Pensive**

_Pensive-1. Engaged in deep thoughtfulness.  
__2. Suggestin or expressing deep, often melancholy thoughtfulness.  
3. __The quality or nature of being mentally or spiritually preoccupied._

Ron hated Mondays. Not loathed, not detested, he _hated_ Mondays. It was the worst day in his class schedule. In previous years he had thought it was bad having Potions on Friday. It was pure torture having it on Monday. Nothing could really describe the horror of having Double Potions with the Slytherins with Snape last class of the day. The day didn't even start out good. Mondays were trying all around. First was Transfiguration which McGonagall made challenging, followed with History of Magic. After that was lunch and after _that_ it was Divination. After the triple whammy of History, Lunch, and Divination almost putting him to sleep he had to survive Potions.

Ron wasn't good at Potions. Fred and George had a knack for it, Percy was a good student and even Ginny did well. He was horrible at brewing potions. He even was a disaster cooking at home, the only thing close to Potions in the real world. He could barely make a workable Potion by himself. Maybe he and Harry would have been better if they didn't have 'someone' sabotaging their work. (sends a glare in Malfoy's direction.) By the end of the day he was mentally exhausted and physically aching with the effort of putting magic in random ingredients.

Today was pure hell.

He started the day in the infirmary getting his bandages changed. His hands had split open again during the night and were bleeding under the wrappings. Poppy had happily informed him that the wounds would reopen for months, _months!_ Then he got a quick breakfast in the Great Hall before he and Harry ran to Transfiguration.

The first thing McGonagall did was call him up to her desk before class even started. "How are your hands," she asked.

"They're fine."

"So you buttoned up your shirt all by yourself?" Her tone was not contemptuous. She was stating a fact like it is cold when it snows or Professor Dumbledore picked the most ridiculous passwords for his office.

Ron didn't answer his teacher's question. Harry actually had to do it. That had been embarrassing, his fingers wouldn't maneuver the tiny buttons. He completely skipped the tie and had pulled on the new cotton robe that Dr.Tajiri had brought for him. Actually, all of his clothes he had right now were non-magical. His normal clothes were soaking; the almost magical but not magical Clordian Powder was leeching all the magic out of the cloth. Some items, like his old dress robes, were a loss. The new dress robes that Fred and George got him for his birthday held up better but were fading the longer they sat.

But standing there, thinking about contaminated clothes and non-magic reminded his if he couldn't use his hands to button buttons, how could he write with a quill? Luckily, Professor McGonagall had thought of that.

"This is a Dictaquill," she explained as she motioned to the blue quill lying on her desk. "You can use it only during Lectures until Poppy says you can write with quills again."

"So I don't have to do homework," he said hopefully.

"Homework is required and will have to be done the muggle way."

The 'muggle way' turned out to be common pens and notebooks filled with lined paper. She also handed him a heavy pen she called a fountain pen that he could use when writing on parchment for the essays that would have to be measured. She had sent him back to his seat with the rest of the class staring at him. On top of the stack was a note saying she would show him how to use the Dictaquill and the fountain pen after class. After he sat down she started speaking, talking about whatever they would be learning today. The Dictaquill picked itself up and quietly scratched away.

The Dictaquill followed him throughout his other classes without problem until he got to Potions. For once, Snape was sitting at his desk when he, Harry and Hermione entered the class. The others picked out seats by the front-most worktables so they could hear the lesson. Dictaquills were useful but they sometimes missed words and he had to pay attention and double-check the notes the quill took… well, Hermione actually checked.

Ron approached the Head Slytherin with worry, quill clutched tightly in a bandaged hand. Snape was the one teacher who knew the most about what had happened to the Gryffindor the past couple of days but he was also the one teacher who wouldn't give him any slack.

"You will not need that," the man said without looking up from his papers. The'that' that he was referring to was the Dictaquill that Ron still had in his hand, wrapped in some non-magic paper. "This is a practical lesson, like I explained last class period." He still didn't look up at him. Ron was starting to get annoyed. It was bad enough that Snape was being a monumental jerk like he always was, he didn't even look up when he spoke to the Gryffindor.

"But how am I supposed to work on a potion when I can't use my hands to cut up or powder ingredients," he countered without hiding his annoyance.

"Luckily for you, you will be working with Longbottom on this potion." The grease ball finally looked up at the teenager with a nasty smirk on his face. Ron paled a shade more at the thought of working with the accident prone Gryffindor. He at least was able to complete a potion. Neville's current track record was three failed potion completed and only seven melted cauldrons. Oh, and one potion that didn't stop at the floor but ate a hole to the next level of the dungeons. If it were not a required class, Neville would have left three years ago.

Ron just stomped back to the tables and threw his bag on the floor next to Neville's ninth cauldron. Cauldron Number Eight was still orbiting the planet after the impressive explosion launched it out of the dungeons two classes ago. Neville looked apologetic as he pulled out his battered potions book. Ron pulled out his own war-torn copy and flipped to the third chapter of the book. Finally stopping when the title Adaracke's Vision Potion presented itself, Ron looked over to see that Neville had found the same page.

"Umm. . . It looks like we'll need to get griffin feathers, flax seed, and ahh…" Neville stuttered n the last ingredient's name.

"The Rock Troll Drool?" Ron completed the sentence for the other teen. Both made faced of disgust at the ingredient. It was probably the only reason Snape assigned this particular potion. Nothing probably pleased the man more than making a bunch of teenagers dump buckets of the unsanitary spit into their cauldrons and heat said cauldrons until the smell of cabbage and sewers permeated the air.

"Yeah," Neville nodded in nervous agreement. "I'll go get them," the brunette boy mumbled as he tripped to the back of the room for their missing ingredients. The potion ingredients weren't too complicated but Snape said last time that it was very dependent on timing. He was _so_ screwed.

"Hey Neville, if it's ok with you, can you cut up all the ingredients while I stir and add?" Ron asked when Neville returned holding their needed ingredients. He did this with the hope that he could head off major disaster. The other boy just nodded and picked up a knife to start slicing shriveled black mushrooms. Ron just sat there for a couple of minutes pretending to read the complicated timing directions. As he was reading, trying to decide if Step16 meant he was supposed to stir counterclockwise every two minutes or stir for two minutes at a time, he felt an arm bump into his shoulder. He looked over to see Harry's concerned face looking down at him.

"Ron, how are you really doing?"

"Like Shit," was his blunt answer. Neville looked up for a second before putting the mushrooms aside to crushing the fireflies in a crucible. The ingredients all had to be prepared in advance since the potion was so time dependent and for the last five steps the potion had to simmer in almost complete darkness.

Ron spared a glance at his partner before turning towards Harry and Hermione on the other side of the wooden table. The two of them had kept a very close eye on him the entire day. He felt like he didn't even have the chance to sneeze in peace. Where Hermione couldn't go Harry did and vise versa. They were practically smothering him with concern as the day went on. The shock of what had happened only a couple of days ago had worn and the reality that they almost lost one of their best friends caused a rash of mother henning that there was no escape. True, he hadn't told them how close it really was but even though he had told two complete strangers he wasn't quite up to reveal one of his darkest secrets to his closest friends.

A nudge reminded him that they were still in class with Snape so he snapped back to the real world and started to throw disassembled potion ingredients into the heated cauldron. What little was said in their half-code because Neville was in earshot. The other boy didn't know the exact details of the weekend so the Gryffindor trio avoided talking about the ritual. Even thought they were careful to avoid the ritual subject Harry was able to relate the conversation he had with 'Snuffles' last night. Sirius was _not_ happy to here what his godson had gotten himself into. Harry winced as he told Ron and Hermione that his godfather would be up to visit in a couple of weeks so they could 'talk'. Harry hadn't been sure what was worse, Sirius risking capture to see him or being lectures by one of the important figures in his life that. The man even implied that he had been disappointed that the teen didn't tell a teacher what they were going to do.

"But I bet he did things just as dangerous when he was in school," Ron argued for Harry.

"I know."

"Did you tell Dumbledore that he was coming?" Hermione asked as she stirred a foul concoction of Troll spit and fairer ingredients.

"I will when we get done with class but I have a feeling the Headmaster already knows," he told his friends in a quiet voice.

Ron nodded in agreement as he started to add the griffin feathers to his own potion. Neville nervously sat down next to Ron as Snape announced it would be five minutes before the torches went out. Ron looked down at the glop in his cauldron.

"What color is this supposed to be again?" he asked his partner.

"Burgundy," Neville said after taking a look in the book.

"Huh?"

"A brownish Maroon," Hermione elaborated for the two clueless teens.

"Oh," Neville said softly. "I think we're pretty close." And he was right. The potion looked more brown than maroon but it was in close. If they got thru the ten minutes of darkness that the potion needed to completely do its thing, he and Neville might get a passing grade.

"Who actually would think to drink this stuff," Harry said with disgust as he took over stirred his cauldron.

"This is one of the potions mentioned in Hogwarts, A History. It was originally a bet between a couple of professors on who could make the best tasting Rock Troll Saliva Draught. Professor Madine was the Potions Master at the time and came up with this stuff. He didn't know that it would make some one able to see in the dark."

"And how many bottles of Firewhiskey did they go through before someone came up with that idea?"

"Seven," Hermione answered.

"You've got to be joking." Ron said with disbelief.

"You'd think it would have taken more to think of that." The Gryffindor trio paused and all turned towards the person who spoke last.

"What?" Neville asked the shocked teens before the lights went out without warning.

"You have ten minutes before I will turn the lights back on. Any fooling around _will_ result in detention with me. Understand?"

Ron froze as Professor Snape's voice sounded a lot closer than he thought it would. He even felt cloth brush past his arm as silent steps carried the potions master past his table. For some reason, that sent a small shiver of pain up his arm. Luckily his wince was hidden in the darkness. It was unnerving standing in the dark while stirring an unseen cauldron. Every thing was going fine though. Neville was sitting quietly away from the cauldron and there was little movement heard though the room.

As with all things in his life, the peace didn't last. They were past the halfway point that was marked verbally by Snape when Ron heard a small plop coming from his cauldron. At this point various cauldrons around the room were starting to let off a faint light indicating that the potions were nearing completion. Ron and Neville's potion had started to light up as well when that small noise was made.

All of a sudden his potion let off a shriek. Ron jumped back and he was pretty sure that the wooden thunk he heard was Neville falling off of his stool. Pain lanced through him as steam poured out of the cauldron. He heard someone yell "COVER!" before he was pushed away from the cauldron and protected as it exploded straight up into the air.

Whoever was behind him stepped away quickly as Professor Snape yelled for the other students to put lids on their cauldrons. The torches were brought back up quickly to reveal the damage. Ron turned to see Harry standing behind him, wand still in his hand. The boy-who-lived just shrugged and put his wand away as Ron whispered thanks. When Harry stepped aside Ron could see that the cauldron was no longer on the floor. Falling ash led Ron's eyes upward to reveal that this cauldron didn't escape the atmosphere like its predecessor. The cauldron, contents and all, was stuck to the ceiling of the classroom. There was a splatter of purple tar imprinted on the ceiling around the suspended cauldron as more ash fell from the bottom. The entire class was silent as everyone stared at the improbable sight. Ron didn't dare look down as dangerously slow steps approached his table from behind.

"Weasley and Longbottom, why do you feel it was necessary to add more mushrooms to your potions after you added the griffin feathers?" Snape's voice was that deadly calm that he used before he ripped a student a new one.

"It was an accident. There was some mushrooms left over and I ran out of time to put them back in the cupboard so I left them on the table." Neville's voice was weak as he muttered his excuse.

Ron dragged his eyes away from the ceiling and sitting innocently on the table was a pile of black mushrooms sitting close to the edge.

"Fifty points from Gryffindor and you both have detention with me. Mister Longbottom on Wednesday and Mister Weasley on Thursday." Snape's voice was still dangerously soft but everyone on the Gryffindor's side flinched.

"Clean up your tables, bottle your potions and get out of here." The potions master said as his young charges scrambled to comply. The cauldron remained on the ceiling as Ron and Neville worked fast to clean up what they could. Without another word the professor stalked from the classroom and into his office, slamming the door.

Once the door was shut the Slytherin half of the class started to laugh. Ron almost walked over to them when Hermione grabbed his arm. Pansy Parkinson said in an obnoxiously loud voice that that was the funniest thing that she had ever seen that Malfoy should get points for doing that. At that point Neville joined in restraining Ron from flying across the room to give the creepy little ferret what he deserved.

"But he wrecked our potion," Ron growled out as Hermione pulled him towards the door.

"You already got detention. There is no point in getting in even more trouble. Come on, he'll get what's coming to him eventually." Ron still struggled but he allowed his friend to pull him out of the dungeons, thus ending his day from hell.

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

"We have it!" a woman exclaimed proudly from the other side of the room. Kagome looked up from her book, Poppy turned from he cabinet she was digging in. Even Inuyasha woke up and turned his attention to the new voice.

The two Japanese teens had been kept pretty isolated so the new arrival drew their notice. The woman that had spoken was someone neither of them had seen before. She was middle-aged with darker hair covered by a pointed hat. Dark green robes hung off her shoulders in elegant folds but the pleased look on her face offset her somber appearance.

"Is Severus coming too?" Poppy asked as the woman closed the hospital wing doors behind her.

"No. He had detentions with Mister Longbottom and the Tallow Twins tonight."

"All at the same time?" she asked faintly.

"He needs tomorrow night free to plan with Ron Weasley."

Poppy shook her head in wonder as she led the woman to Kagome and Inu's side of the room. The entire ward had been divided by a faint chalk line that ran between the two rows of beds. Snape had drawn it after Inuyasha's second escape attempt. The line itself was more than decoration. It was the base of multiple spells that kept the new wizard and witch confined and hidden. The most direct purpose of the chalk was to provide a foundation for the curtain spell that hid the far side of the room. From the side by the doors, the opposite side of the room looked empty with metal beds lined up in a straight row. Once one passed the line dividing the floor, a person could see what really lay on the other side. Kagome and Yasha had taken over the far side of the room. On their side of the room there were only two beds instead of the usual six. In place of extra beds there was a table complete with four matching chairs and all of the cabinets lined up in a row.

The second chalk line spell was designed to keep certain unruly 'guests' inside the hospital wing. It responded to blood, not human or demon power. It was keyed to Kagome and Inuyasha specifically. Anyone else could walk through but they were trapped behind an invisible glass barrier. The spell could easily be broken with a part of the line being erased but even the line was heavily guarded; only Snape was able to wipe away the chalk.

Poppy crossed the line and motioned the woman to cross as well. They both stopped on the other side when the two new wizards were visible.

"Inuyasha… Kagome… this is Professor Minerva McGonagall."

**AN**_ I'm using a younger McGonagall than the book, she is in her early forties here. I love Maggie Smith's work but she doesn't fit into my idea. Don't believe me, when you watch HP and the SS look at the plaque with Harry's dad's name for quidditch and look at the other names on the plaque.)_

Kagome gave a smile to the woman while Inuyasha just grunted and looked bored. The woman acknowledged the two as she set down a small wooden box and a stack of musty books. "I had wanted to talk to the three of you first before I brought up our ideas to the headmaster. Professor Snape and I have solutions two our two separate problems."

"What exactly are your solutions for?" Kagome asked politely.

"The first one was how to hide Mister Inuyasha's. . . less than human appearance. The second is the fact neither of you want to be sorted nor possibly end up in separate houses."

"Damn Straight!" Inuyasha said with some barely hidden hostility.

"You said you had something that would work?" Poppy asked to get the Professor back on track.

The witch reached from the wooden box onto of the books. She picked it up carefully and sat down on one of the chairs that had been tucked under the table. Poppy took her cue from the professor and took a second chair. Inu stayed on his bed while Kagome jumped off of hers to join the half-demon on edge of his bed which was closer to the table they had set up for the teens' use.

Minerva set the box, unopened, on her lap and started to speak. "Most of the traditional concealing spells will not work on you." She spoke to the unimpressed demon. "Most common spells and potions would have no affect. We ended up looking at some unconventional ideas. Professor Snape and I think that this object will work the best to disguise you Mister Inuyasha."

She lifted the box's lid and reached inside the box. Her hand came out entangled with a leather strap with a hidden weight on the end. It finally lifted clear of the box to reveal a delicate blue glass teardrop hanging from a worn leather band. Inuyasha wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"It's a necklace. I'm not going to wear it," he said with finality.

"If I'm correct, you already where one necklace," she said as she motioned towards the rosary.

"Not by choice," he countered as he glared in Kagome's direction. "I am not going to wear it."

"It is much more than decoration. _This_ is the Clockwork Amulet."

"But it doesn't look like a clock." Kagome said this while looking curiously at the necklace.

"'Clock-work' in this case has nothing to do with a real clock. This amulet does not use standard magic but a type of magic based off human technology. In particular, this amulet is magic with gears."

The professor gently held the teardrop and quietly spoke _"Patefacio Vestri Moestitia". _The glass turned clear and split down the middle. It opened like a rosebud to full flower. The glass spiraled apart to reveal a heart of tiny spinning gold gears interlocked together. A blue glow emitted frond the depths of the gears and illuminated their faces with light. The gears at first seemed finer than sand but they grew and swelled until individual gears were the size of grains of rice and the entire contraption sat nestled in the professor's hand.

"What does it do?" Kagome asked with wonder.

"It's complicated. Each gear is tuned to a specific part of an individual's appearance and body. It changes the very things than make a person look a certain way. In simple terms it will crate the illusion of being human by making you human on the outside."

Blank looks indicative of confusion faced McGonagall on three sides. She sighed to herself and continued.

"The amulet causes changes on the surface to make a non-human look human. You would still be a half demon on the inside while your hair, ears, hands and such become human."

"How do you know it will actually work on me?" Yasha said with much doubt.

"Because the last known individual to use this amulet wasn't human. He was a vampire."

"Umm… do you mean like a real vampire?" Kagome answered nervously.

For her answer, Minerva spoke quietly and closed the amulet but left the shrinking glass in her hands. She then looked at the new wizards seriously as she started to tell them the story of the Clockwork Amulet.

"The story goes that there were a pair of twin brothers. One night they were traveling in a forest and had set up camp near the center of the woods. While they were sleeping the brothers were attacked by a group of unidentifiable creatures. The one twin became so frightened he jumped upon one of the horses and fled, leaving his brother defenseless and alone.

"The brother reached the other side of the forest and found refuge in a village not far from the tree line. He told his wild story of the attack and mentioned that the man with him (who he wouldn't identify as his brother) was killed. The twin did not know that for certain but he feared that the villagers would force him to lead them to the camp and to the creatures he had fled from. He was too afraid of being attacked again so he lied. Only days later he left the village and headed west to get as far away from the forest and the shame of his brother's death.

"Days later another party traveling thru the forest came upon the campsite by accident. There was a dead horse and blood and signs of a struggle but the body of the abandoned twin wasn't found.

"The reason (that everyone involved learned later) that there was no body was because the tin was killed and turned into a vampire during the fight. In his dead rage he decided to exact revenge on his cowardly twin.

"Traveling by night and darkness the new vampire traveled across countries seeking the man who left him to die, the man who refused to help or protect him. Even though his living brother was a coward, the man was a smart coward. He fled his home country of Czechoslovakia and crossed the channel ending up in England where he married and began a new life, ignoring his past.

"It took years for the vampire to track his still human twin. The dead man was no fool either just like his brother. Somehow along his travels the vampire obtained the Clockwork Amulet. Now the term 'amulet' is misleading since the clockwork amulet is more of a talisman than a true amulet..."

"Minerva," Poppy said with much patience. The younger woman nodded and cut short her impromptu lesson.

"The amulet gave the vampire the power to change his very skin. Now vampires usually forget what they looked like while they were human but the dead man easily overcame the obstacle of the trying memory loss. His twin was an identical match to his former human form. This was doubly good for the twin because it provided the means to exact his revenge. He hadn't traveled for years and crossed water just to give the coward a quick death.

"Weeks after the vampire made his way to the remote village the cowardly twin had settled mysterious deaths started to occur. It always happened during the day and after the human twin had spent any amount of time with a single person alone. The only thing that tied the murders together besides the twin connection was the telltale bite marks that where found on all the victims. Some one put two and two together and the town peacekeepers questioned the human twin until he gave and confessed about the death of his twin years ago.

"With this new information they cornered the vampire and brought the two brothers together for the first time in almost a decade. The town council was sure one of them was the vampire terrorizing the town but they did not trust the human twin so it was decided that they both would be punished. Both men were taken into a hut on a sunny midday and stripped of all clothes. They were both led out of the hut into the sunlight. The vampire still wore the amulet until one of the guards noticed and ripped it off his neck.

"It took almost a minute for his skin to remember it wasn't human and not long after that the vampire burned in an amazing pillar of dark flames until all that was left was ashes. The wind picked up the dark soot and scattered it far away. The human twin did not escape riotous punishment either. While watching his dead brother bur the human's heart gave out and he died that same day."

"Eww!" Kagome gave a shudder and leaned away fro the innocent-looking necklace the professor held in her hands. Inuyasha must have actually paid attention because he got up and strode over to take the amulet.

"Is there any way to hide it?" he asked.

"As long as you have clothes on the amulet will remain invisible if you with it," the teacher stated.

"And no one will know that I am a half demon while wearing it?" he asked without looking away from the glass.

"Yes, the only downside is that you will be as vulnerable to wide range of spells like a full human. However, once the amulet is taken off you will still be the same as you are now, including the increased immunity to magic."

"How will it create this 'human' outside on Inuyasha?" Kagome asked the professor.

"All he needs to do is imagine himself as looking human and the amulet will work with it. It only takes one time to create the general image to be projected and if any adjustments need to be made later individual gears can be fixed. We can do it right now if you want to."

"Do what?" the Hanyou asked.

"Change your appearance," Kagome said with some exasperation.

"I knew that," he said in that bossy, nasally tone.

Professor McGonagall placed the blue necklace into Inuyasha's reluctant hands. After a couple quick lessons on pronouncing Latin, she had Inuyasha open up the amulet and let the mass of glass and gears rest in his hands.

"Now what you need to do is picture how you would look as a human," the witch instructed the hanyou.

He gave her a dumb look before directing a question at Kagome. _"So I guess no one told her what I was when we got here?"_

All Kagome could do was shrug. Inuyasha turned back to the amulet and made a face, trying to concentrate. Eyes squinted, nose wrinkled, nothing happened to the amulet or the half demon. After an entire five seconds of concentration he gave up and tried to shove the glass necklace into McGonagall's hands. She just returned the contraption before talking to him quietly.

"Maybe 'picture' is the wrong word. You need to _feel_ how it is to be human, to _know_ the difference between a human hair and your own. You know what you should _look _like. . . now how does it feel to _be human_?"

With renewed determination, Inuyasha held the Clockwork Amulet. This time, after the five seconds of required concentration, the gears began to spin. Everyone watched the gears spin and shift until all motion stopped. Everything in the world was the same. Well, it was the same besides the dark haired teen sitting on a hospital wing bed. Once that detail was noticed, other things became clear. Very human ears poked out from under the black strands and stubby nails ended the hands that held the amulet. The new human looked up with eyes that were very dark, violet-black in this light. Kagome let out a squeal of triumph that Inu flinched at, like he had done any other time in his demon form.

"How do you feel?" she asked excitedly.

"Like I always do," he replied with some confusion. "What is the big deal?"

Kagome pulled her human-like companion off the bed and to the other side of the room into an awaiting, empty bathroom. They stopped in front of a mirror. It was probably the first clear look Inuyasha ever had of his human form. Mirrors were kind of scarce in Feudal Japan and his aversion to his human form meant he really didn't look at anything that could reflect his image during his time of the month.

Even if he looked human (even his teeth had shrunk), Inuyasha claimed that he possessed all of his normal senses. The two went back to the main part of the hospital wing where Poppy and Professor McGonagall waited. The younger witch stood up as Poppy said a quick goodbye and left for her office. The professor showed Inuyasha how to close the amulet and then settled the blue weight around his neck. With one word the glass disappeared. Now it looked like he was wearing just the rosary.

Kagome wasn't sure how long the two of them had spent in the bathroom because as Inuyasha was playing with his new toy, changing from human to half-demon with a couple of words , she noticed that the chalk line on the floor was gone. When she brought this fact to the attention of Professor McGonagall the other woman had nodded and said that it was time to leave the hospital wing. They had rooms finally set up to use while they were at school.

There was nothing to take with them so after Professor McGonagall asked if they were ready she led them out of the hospital wing and through the double doors into the rest of the school. They turned to the left and started walking. Once they left the first plain hallway the teacher started a narrative about the school. Hogwarts was _very_ old in this time, over a thousand years. Over time it had been altered and added on, mostly adding if the eccentric appearance of their hall was anything to go by.

The thing that stuck out most to Kagome was the paintings. Hundred of landscapes and portraits plastered the halls and the occasional ceiling. The paintings didn't behave like normal paintings did. These pieced of art had a hard time staying in one place. The subjects moved around freely and talked to the passersby. They didn't even stay in the correct frames. She watched a little boy hop from his painting to the next one over as if running behind a wall and not doing something beyond the normal bounds of physics. It made her a little ill trying to keep track so after a few minutes she just kept her eyes on the stone floor ahead of her. Finally they passed a set of heavy doors guarded by a password and left the main hallway for a smaller and much duller one.

The walk to their new rooms left Kagome in a pensive mood. They had nothing as they walked down the nondescript hallway. Plain wooden walls and dark stone floors offered no relief or comfort to Kagome's tired eyes. She wasn't sure which was worse: the dizzying portraits of previous halls or the dark emptiness of this new hallway.

What was even more depressing was that she and Inuyasha walked this path with nothing of their own. Kagome's ever-present yellow bag she took everywhere laid forgotten in Japan. She only had the clothes she had appeared here in. Inuyasha didn't have that. His normal robes were in that lost bag and his sword was conspicuously absent. Only luck had left them with mostly friendly wizards (if one did not count the theft of previously noted sword and the 'small' fight in the hospital wing a couple of days ago).

Kagome's thoughts continued to drift as they traveled the hall. It was a boring hall . . . until thy reached the first atrium. The hall opened into an indoor courtyard filled with tropical flowers and winding vines. Kagome ducked below on particularly tangled bunch as Professor McGonagall led the way on a now curving paths.

"Normally teachers don't use this entrance, there is a more convenient one on the other end of the wing but this is the shortest way to and from the hospital wing. There are sets of rooms on each side of the hallway and each entrance leads into an atrium shared by sets of rooms." She pushed past a stubborn plant with plate-sized leaves to point out the two doors on opposite sides. The heavy wooden doors were easily noticeable even among the foliage. Kagome also saw that there was a bench cleared of plant life and it was standing near the one door.

"All of the rooms have the same basic setup. The door opens in to a large living area. There is a large master suite and two smaller rooms that can become extra bedrooms, office space or whatever else is needed. The rooms you are going to have belonged to our former Muggle Studies professor. He was a muggle-born wizard so he had a lot of amenities put in that most wizards don't ever use. After he retired, Professor Turnbaumb decided he wanted rooms that faced west and no one has occupied the room for the past couple of years.."

As the woman talked, they passed through two more atriums, both different from the jungle atrium they first encountered. The second atrium was decorated like a fancy hotel lobby. Plush and gilded chairs were scattered around low tables and beautifully wrought iron lamps that held a forest of unlit candles. The dark walls were painted in a light taupe color. The third atrium they came to was like an old fashion library complete with leather-bound books. Leather furniture and heavy desks were the main features of the space. The dark wood paneling extended out into the room but it took a whole new tone with the furniture and the space, making it feel almost cozy.

They left the third atrium and continued down the plain hall. Finally they made it to the fourth atrium, their atrium. Unlike the past three atriums this one wasn't cluttered with furniture or filled with uncontrolled plants. The center was dominated by a large water fountain that spilled off multiple tiers and fell in a basin that was lined with small mosaic tiles. Low built-in benches bracketed the two corners of the room that did not open into a hallway. The paneling was painted a light blue and unmoving paintings decorated the walls. McGonagall stepped to the right side of the fountain and stopped outside of a non-descript wooden door, a match to all the other doors they had seen.

"This is it?" Kagome asked nervously.

"Your rooms are the set that face the east. Why don't you go in there by yourself for a couple of minutes?" She pointed towards the door on the right. Inuyasha approached it first. The heavy wooden door stood anonymously on the wall next to some unknown potted plant. Inuyasha took the initiative and grabbed the doorknob. Pulling open the door they were greeted with a sight they did not expect.

The door opened into a large open space that was unbroken by walls until the far wall that was a mural of clear stain glass. Beyond the glass was a panoramic view of the mountains and the Lake. Inuyasha walked deeper into the room while Kagome continued to take it in. On the left side of the room there was a huge brick fireplace dominating the wall with at least one door visible on that side. She looked to the right, past a group of couches and chairs surrounding the fireplace and turned to see the other side of the large open space. Closest to her was a simple wooden dining set with chairs neatly pushed in around it. The far right corner of the loft-like space was an open kitchen. Modern chrome appliances were set with wooden cabinets and granite counters.

Kagome drifted over to the kitchen side of the room while Inuyasha made his way to the glass windows. The space looked like it had come out of one of those designer magazines her aunt had at her business. Everything looked well cared for, if not new to the space. The large island that bordered the living room space had stools on the one side to sit on and the other side had an oven and cabinets stocked with pots and plates. It was when she was looking at the selection of spices that she noticed the bench and painting on the wall opposite the glass windows. She walked into the sheltered space to see a small wall that had been blocking the view of double doors from the rest of the room.

She pushed open the double doors to a darkened space. She passed into the room and looked around. This room was smaller than the main living area and was only lit by the colored light like there had been in the hospital wing. She turned towards the source of the colored light and her breath caught in her throat. The far wall was also made up of stain glass. Unlike the other room, the glass here was colored and it was amazing. The other room's windows depicted some natural scenery but the color had washed out and the glass was clear. The glass in this room was a different kind of clear, more of a clarity of glass since the glass colors ranged from frosty blue to the most amazing red and orange.

"What's so special about the window?" a voice said right behind her.

Kagome gasped and whipped around to see Inuyasha standing there with a clueless look on his face. He reached along the darkened wall and flipped the light switch that Kagome had missed seeing. Lamps all around the room turned on to reveal what must have been the master bedroom. The far side had a large four poster bed and another fireplace with seating around it. In front of her was another open door which looked like it led to the bathroom. And finally on her right was a table, a desk, and all the chairs and bookshelves a person needed.

A voice called to the two of them from out in the main room. Kagome spared one last glance at the amazing stain glass masterpiece before turning around and following Inuyasha back into the living room. She made a promise to herself to study the glass more. She had only had a little time to look at it from a distance and she was already intrigued by what it portrayed.

She let her thoughts trail off as she made it to the newly built fire in the man-height fireplace. Professor McGonagall had wanted to plan how they would get to London in a couple of days to get their school supplies. She also wanted to explain how her and Inuyasha would get away with living together in this suite and get out of the school sorting. She was pretty sure age had something to do with it. The redhead had asked what their respective ages were while they had been walking to the teachers' wing. Kagome answered truthfully, she was only seventeen. The woman made a face at her answer but it at least was a better one than the age that Inuyasha had provided. When he was questioned the hanyou had only said that he was old enough to do what he 'damn well pleased'.

"The first order of business is to get you the equipment and materials you will need to learn how to be a wizard." Kagome sighed as her prediction came true. She settled into the overstuffed couch next to Inuyasha as the three of them made plans. Unfortunately, none of those plans included Kagome getting in touch with her mother or getting the two of them anywhere near Japan or how exactly they were going to avoid the traditional sorting the teachers kept talking about. She just wished she could go home but instead she was left trying to alter her view of the known world, again. At least it was sunny outside today.

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

It was dreary outside. It was one of those cold, wet days where the clouds hung as if suspended from a cathedral ceiling and the rain never stopped. Kagome pulled her cloak around her in a futile attempt to keep some body heat near her body. She ducked her head as rain started to drizzle down from the clouds.

'_They had picked a good day to shop_' was what Professor McGonagall said. _'Good Day'_ her ass. It was true that they could easily hide under heavy cloaks and determined rain but it didn't mean she had to like it. She followed the woman in front of her, not Professor McGonagall but a different woman, as they headed in and out of various stores. Even with the miserable weather she was trying to enjoy their trip in London, in Diagon Alley. But she _was_ miserable and much of the outdoor wonder was lost to her. The actual shops themselves were very interesting. She wandered past stores with owls and ingredients and other magical relics. The shops they did enter were a blur of off colors and wild sounds as the marched from one dry haven to another. She did have a rest in the clothing store while she and Inuyasha were fitted for floor-length robes and still longer cloaks and even dress robes (which Yasha _hated_, but he did look good in dark green not that she would ever tell him that).

The woman in front of them, Madame Pooche or maybe it was Madame Hooche, led them to yet another store with windows so dirty that the shop's contents were hidden from the street. The woman turned back to them, yellow eyes peering out from under a sodden hood, and spoke over the rain. "This is the last place we need to go. We need to find you both wands. After that we are going back to the castle."

The woman was on edge, whether it was from the new wizards or if it was just the rain Kagome wasn't sure. The woman turned away from them and pushed her way into the shop. As Kagome passed the threshold she heard the soft tinkling of a bell deep from within the building. There wasn't much to see inside, just a chair and a beat-up counter with an old-fashioned cash register perched on top. Otherwise, the room was cluttered with dozens of shelves with dozens more boxes stacked on top of each other. Each box was small and slim and there were a thousand more just like them.

"Good Day," a soft voice spoke. Kagome whipped her head to the left and she saw that Inuyasha grabbing for the swords that wasn't there. In between two tall shelves was a small man her grandfather's age. White wispy hair floated around his head as he slowly walked towards the three wizards. "I am Mister Ollivander. I saw you outside earlier and knew that you would be here soon."

The quiet voice was unsettling and Kagome wasn't sure what to do. Even the Professor didn't seem at ease in the dusty store. The man blinked at Kagome with large owl eyes, looking approvingly at her. He then turned his head to her companion and said, "You will not need to disguise yourself in here. The amulet will help you out in the world but it will only hinder the right wand from searching for you."

Inuyasha was startled but after a nod from Madame Mooche he gently took off the blue stone amulet. The teardrop shape sparkled for a moment before his hanyou nature took hold of his body. The professor was surprised but the old man wasn't. After watching the process that turned a human into something that wasn't he turned his attention to Kagome.

"Now it takes patience to find the right wand for you. The right wand has to choose you. Come stand here," he said as he pointed to an invisible spot on the floor. Madame Hatche and Inuyasha stood off to the side, the former taking a seat in the lone chair and the latter leaning against the bare wall between shelves and more shelves. The old man disappeared into the bowels of the shop before returning to Kagome's side.

"Try this one. It's Cherry with Dragon Heartstring." Kagome cautiously took the wand from the old man's grasp. She had just taken it before it was snatched out of her hand and replaced with another one.

"Willow and Phoenix Tail Feather, twelve inches." Again Kagome tried to grab for it but it was liberated very quickly. Again the wizard presented a new wand. This time he said it was Walnut with another Dragon Heartstring. After that it was a Maple and Unicorn Hair, followed in quick succession of Juniper, some type of evergreen and some other wand from a tree called a Monkey Puzzle. The types of different wands confused her but the old man didn't let up. He kept pressing different wands into her hands, no two alike.

Hours passed without success (or at least that was how if felt to Kagome). Mister Ollivander looked intrigued. She had tried literally dozens of wands by now but nothing worked right. Suddenly a spark lit up in the dark eyes of the old man and he practically ran to the back of the store. They heard doors slam and it was some time before the old man returned. He held a wand in his hands, no box, and he seemed excited.

"I know that this is an unfinished wand but it might be what you are looking for. It is eleven inches, Ironwood, with a unicorn hair core." She picked it up from his hands, calloused hands touching hers briefly. This wand felt different from the others. All of the other wands she tried were smooth and dead but this one was cold and covered with tiny scratch marks. She held it up like she had with the others and she brought it down, a cascade of blue and purple jumping out from its tip. Madame Hooche cheered but the old man was silent, captivated.

"It's missing something. Those engravings are meant to hold more unicorn hair but that is not what you or the wand needs. It needs something to balance the unicorn hair." The old man puzzled and stared at the wand in her hand. "Demiguise hair might work, or werewolf hair providing you could find a willing werewolf on a full moon. Hmm. . . ."

"What about demon hair?" she asked timidly. Ollivander looked up with her, sharp eyes looking straight into hers.

"It would be perfect if you had hair a demon gave you willingly."

Kagome decided that it would be easier to show instead of explain. She turned around away from the old man, the Madame, and Inuyasha. She lifted the bottle of Shikon Shards out of her shirt and then undid the cord tying the bottle around her neck. She turned and tossed the Shards to Inuyasha before handing the cord to the old man. He took it with gentle hands and held the braided length up to the lantern above their heads. The braid was pure white hair that had been cleverly braided into one tight unbreakable strand.

"Where did you get this," he asked in awe.

"A little girl gave it to me," was her answer. It was too complicated of a story to explain to a stranger. She had saved Rin, Shesshomaru's . . . well whatever she was to him she still had saved the little girl. In the process of the rescue the chain that originally held the bottle broke and was swallowed by the demon Kagome had saved Rin from. Inuyasha destroyed the creature before it had time to completely absorb the shards and before Sesshomaru and Rin left the little girl said she would have a present for the miko next time she saw her. A week later they crossed paths again and Rin had presented her the braid saying it was a gift from her and her Lord. Kag had almost lost it when she saw the fabled demon walk out of the trees to stand next to the little girl. His normally silky hair was tangled into a million little braids like the one she held in her hand. The dog demon only said "Use your gift well, you will never receive another." With that he was gone and Rin left, smiling and dancing around the older youkai.

Kagome had taken the small braid and had used it as the new cord to hold the bottle around her neck. It had not broken once, it had not slipped nor did the knot ever come undone unless she wanted it to. Now the cord's end was undone and a single hair was untwining from the rest. The old wizard gently pulled on it and it came free without any effort.

"It's just the right length, and about the right diameter." He stared at the single hair before he held out his hand for the grey wand Kagome was holding. She gave it to him and he held it up to a faint shaft of light escaping the rain through the dirty window. He then took the hair and gently pushed one end into an invisible groove on the surface of the wand. The hair all of a sudden curled away from the wizard's hand and wound around the wand. With a small flash the last of the hair disappeared on the surface of the wand and it looked the same as before.

"Take it," Mister Ollivander said as he held out the wand. Kagome hesitantly reached out and took the wand. Now it felt different. It was smooth and warm and was a welcome weight in her hand. She brought it up and gently waved it in the air. The blue and purple sparks reappeared but this time they hung without motion. The sparkles looked like water droplets suspended in air. There was a twinkle and the magic rushed at her, it rushed into her. The air shimmered with a residue left over from the magic and beyond that shimmer the other three wizards in the room stared in shock.

"What is it?" she asked. Her voice broke the spell in the air and the shimmer disappeared. It also jolted the others into action. Madame Hooche sat down looking faint. Inuyasha stepped away from the wall and stared at her and Mister Ollivander looked excited. Actually he looked like he was going to jump out of his skin with excitement.

"This is wonderful. Come with me." He pulled on her arm and directed her between two tall shelves. The old man continued on, all the while talking in his wispy voice.

"This wand is actually a creation of my great niece, Michelle Ollivander. She is studying in America and she sent me this as part of a small collection to inspect and sell. This particular wand is made with American Ironwood and Unicorn hair from unicorns raised in Montana. She had carved the wand herself and had planned to inlay another unicorn hair. Strangely, the wand refused any material she used so she sent it to me. Michelle wanted to see if anything I keep here would take."

He led them farther back into the shop, past worn doors and dusty boxes into a dim room lit with ball of bright light suspended in iron cages that swung and pivoted off tables and walls. Some lights were even hung from the ceiling. There was no dust at this end of the shop. The shelves to the right were filled with thousands of sticks. There were racks of whole branches and an occasional tree propped near the shelves towards the center of the room.

On the side opposite the wood racks and shelves there was an army of glass cabinets that stretched from wall to wall. Clear glass fronted the cabinets and allowed a passerby to gaze at its contents. The first set held bright feathers of red and orange and gold. The next cabinets were filled with thousands of spools of silver thread. The final set on the far side of the room was stacked with unmarked boxes that gave no hint to what was inside. Any space left open by the cabinets and the shelves was filled with heavy tables and strange pieces of equipment.

But this view was nothing compared to when Kagome looked with her miko senses. The world exploded with energy. Most of the room glowed with releasing energy that she could actually see. The glass cabinets gave off the warmest glow of all. Their contents colored pure by the light only she could see. In contrast, the wood on the other end of the room let off little light. No more than any other tree in the forests of Feudal Japan. All around there were spikes of light and even some dark light areas she had come to associate with corruption.

She brought herself back to reality and followed Inuyasha deep in the room until the group stopped at a large u-shaped desk that divided the room into two separate halves.

"It is customary for the wand maker to be present when his or her creation finds its wizard. Occasionally that is not possible, like today." The old wizard stopped on the right side of his desk where a small copper basin sat clear of the papers covering the rest of the desk.

Ollivander lit a fire inside the copper container and started to talk to the fire, asking if Michelle was around. While he was talking, Yasha wandered away from the desk and started to look at a rack of large carved branches. The wand wizard directed Kagome's attention back to the fire and the voice now coming from inside. The voice identified itself as the Michelle the old man had been talking about. The woman then began to ask the miko all sorts of questions. The questions ranged from her age and home country to the bizarre like whether she preferred ketchup or mustard on her hotdogs.

Kagome was in the middle of explaining what her favorite color was when a large crash sounded behind her. She turned around wearily to see Inuyasha trying to look innocent next to a fallen rack of branches he had been poking at earlier.

Mister Ollivander quickly ended the conversation with his great niece and doused the fire before walking over to the defensive half demon. The man shooed the demon away before starting to pick up the branches himself. Inu stuck his nose up in the air and said something smart. His comment then ticked off Kagome which earned him a _sit_ right in the store. The hanyou got up and angrily walked over the mess and grabbed the first stick he came to.

"NO!" shouted Mister Ollivander but it was too late. Inuyasha straightened up holding the carved branch. The temperature rose in the room and a flurry of green sparks shot out of the top of the branch. Then the sparks ran into Inuyasha like they had done to Kagome. For a split second she saw something different. Later she could only describe it as a cloaked figure but in that second she saw Inuyasha as he always looked with red pants and sword at his hip. Then there was a crack and the world was back to normal.

The door leading back into the shop was violently pushed open by their witch escort who had opted to wait in the main part of the shop. "What was that!" exclaimed the yellow eyed woman.

"A staff chose him. . ." was Ollivander's reply.

"And that's not normal?" Kagome asked.

"The last staff user was born two hundred years ago. A staff hasn't chosen a witch or wizard before today." He gave Inuyasha a piercing look that the hanyou returned full force. The wizard nodded and stepped back to look over the demon.

"Well, if nothing, you have a good solid staff there. I myself worked that staff when I was young and still traveled to find my own wand parts. This particular one I made in Australia. It is carved from a piece of Lagarostrobos trunk that had a piece of dragon tooth lodged for an unknown period of time. I made it at the time just to prove that I could. I never thought I would ever be in a position to actually see it in use." Abruptly he waved a hand and returned the other staffs to the rack. " It is time for you to go. I will contact Headmaster Dumbledore with more information."

"That's it?" Madame Hooche asked, dumbfounded.

"There is no one alive who even remembers a staff user's work, much less how to use a staff in everyday use. The only time staffs are used today is in ceremonial doings. You will have to learn use that staff yourself." With that the old man went out the back door and nothing else was heard. Kagome, Inuyasha, and Madame Hooche were left alone. They finally let themselves out and returned to Hogwarts in the now pouring rain with even more questions and a shortage of answers.

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

The bed was definitely softer that the hospital bed.

It was a beautifully carved, incredibly soft queen size bed with velvet curtains that enfolded her with gentle grace and comfort. Warm blankets and the delicate clean-smelling quilt should have left her sleeping until a drowsy sunrise crept over the distant mountains to illuminate the ceiling-high windows. She should have been quietly sleeping in harmless dreams.

But Kagome wasn't asleep.

She wasn't lost in cotton candy dreams or relaxing in the more real bed sheets and blankets. Instead of healthy unconsciousness, she was lying awake within the four post bed, eyes directed towards an unseen ceiling. She had heard something, like metal on silk. An almost nothing sound that had drawn her away from tempting sleep and had brought her to a colder reality.

She lay still, breath paused, waiting for the silent noise. She almost had to breathe, to move when she heard it again. She let out and drew in a fresh breath before she dare move. As quietly as she could she shifted and turned her head to the right, to the great windows that had braced a sleeping Inuyasha hours ago. When she completed the turn all she could see were dark shapes and a land laid bare under a waxing moon and twinkling stars. Her hero wasn't a silhouette against the outside night, nor was he part of the dark shapes littering the floor between her bed and the glass.

She broke into action when she heard the noise a third time (or was it her fourth). Cautiously the miko escaped the sheets and dropped her bare feet to the cold wooden floor. From her more upright position she was able to look around the entire room. Small than the hospital ward, it was large enough to dwarf her guarded form. A trickle of light drew her attention to an anonymous door on her left, cut into the wall that jutted out of the wall behind her headboard.

Another repetition of the mysterious noise jolted her into clumsy action. She crept along the wall, only stopping outside of the door that led to the master bath of their suite. The door was left almost closed with only a crack of light escaping the bath. She carefully moved so she could look though the crack into the other room.

The noise repeated itself again. With her closer vantage point it sounded like a metallic snicker, like the cut of a pair of sharp scissors. Motion slipped into her view as a hand carefully, reverently placed strands of raw silk down, or maybe it was slick spider silk that was placed on the counter. The hand withdrew and the snicker sounded again. Another group of fragmented silver joined the growing pile that was about to spill off the flat surface.

Kagome's heart almost stopped. She pushed the door inward, towards her left with trepidation. Denial burned her throat and eyes as the door swung more to expose the owner of the hand and silk.

An unnoticed tear swept down her face as she looked to see her Inuyasha standing with his back to her. A clump of his incredibly long hair clutched in a trembling had. He head was bent down, eyes hidden, as his other hand squeezed the brilliant metal scissors. The deadly metallic jaws closed around the almost white strands, freeing them like released tethers that were linked to the hanyou. His right hand followed the previously cut hair and dropped the silver orphaned strands on the pile.

Her voice refused to come out, unwilling to escape her, unwillingly to abandon the safety of her throat as the hairs were forced to abandon the man, the demon in front of her. Mechanical motions shook with heartbreaking emotion flowed on. Grasp, Snicker, Away was all the world held at this moment.

Coming back to herself she asked "Inuyasha?"

Her voice broke the spell.

The blue metal scissors fell and clattered against the hard floor. The face in the mirror lifted in surprise. Eyes no longer covered by longish bangs sought her out with pain.

"Kagome?" he asked his voice rough. A hand that once broke the silver hair that marked him now reached up to feel the short ends. His hand couldn't have shook, Inuyasha never did that. He was loud and obnoxious, not almost scared.

"I don't know why," he told her reflection. He was shaking. He turned to her and then dropped to the floor, still possessing some grace. She stumbled over to him and sat down like he was with her back to the cabinet and the massacred hair. She sat on his left side looking upon a bared face, free of the curtain of hair that he had had for longer than she could guess.

"A demon's hair is like a symbol of power." He spoke quietly to her, voice no longer shaking but not normal for him. "The longer it is, the more likely that the demon is powerful. That's why I don't trust Kouga, short hair."

"And the fact he's a wolf and that he kidnapped me."

"That too," he agreed with a grim smile. "For a demon, to cut one's hair is like suggesting you are inferior or weak."

"Can it mean anything else?"

He sat for a minute before he answered. "It can mean that you are so powerful you don't need outward signs. You are beyond others."

"Isn't that what you are becoming?" He looked at her for the first time. It was like looking at a twisted mirror. Only one side of his head was covered by short silver spikes while the other still remained untouched, a curtain of silver on his far side. She pressed on. "We are changing, like Professor Dumbledore said. Supposedly we have powerful magic along with what we were before. There are other things about the Guardians that we couldn't even guess yet. You are not just a half-demon."

He looked away but not before a look passed his face. He stared at the far wall thinking. She let him be for as long as she could until she had to ask.

"Why did you do it? Your hair?"

"I just needed a glass of water. This door was open so I got a drink. I just looked up at the mirror. All of a sudden you said my name and half my hair was gone."

"You look cute with short hair, at least from this angle," she mused out loud as she brushed back the shorter spikes. Inuyasha whipped his head towards her and his cheeks turned a very deep red. He then realized she was touching his hair, now straying close to his ears. He jumped back from her touch and the red became even darker. He stuttered something but it was a mess of confused syllables. She just laughed and stood up as he tried to regain some dignity.

"Will it grow back?" she asked to distract him.

'In time' was his short answer.

"Well, since you started . . . how about I finish cutting it?"

"No!" he said sharply. Kagome lost her smile and he looked awkward after his outburst. "You can't be the one to do it," he told her in a more gentle tone.

"Why?" she asked with much hurt.

"If you cut it off it will grow out by sunrise. I have to do this myself." He turned and looked square at the mirror, facing himself.

"Am I stronger?" he asked the mirror, himself, her. She didn't answer as she retrieved the scissors and returned the cold blue metal to him with certainty. She nodded confidently and stood by his side as he took a new lock of long hair in a steadier hand and the snicker of deadly sharpness filled the quiet room.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

END

AN: _Looks on with raised eyebrow . . . think Teal'c from Stargate. _

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**AUTHOR'S NOTE…………………………….**

AN: Another couple of months have gone by and I finally have all of chapter twelve in one place and typed up. I know you all wanted it out sooner but I had to take some time out to think. My little typo in my Profile and your guy's reactions got me thinking: where was I really going? It took a lot of driving and a lot of time sitting on the bathroom floor during my son's many baths (my two best thinking places) to figure out where this is going. I surprised even myself on how far this can go. This is the beginning to something much larger.

I know that you are all getting tired of my rambling but I have just one more thing to get off my chest. Part of this chapter is the inspiration I had to actually type and post this fic. I was just driving and mentally writing about halfway to the hospital I worked at when this little scene came into my head and after I mentally ran it over I was like '_Oh my gosh, I didn't just do that!'_. Ok, so those aren't my _exact_ words but if I told you what I really said would give it away and I have to see what other people would think.

Oh and just to warn you, some of this was written while listening to Lord of the Rings, so I can't be held responsible for what follows ;)

I want to send thanks out to: shiroi-miko, animebook fan, Cattibrie393, MiaRose 156, GoldenRat, Soramiko, inuyashas hun, Auxana, kag101, QueenTatooine, Gabi Web, Talia Moon, AnimeDutchess, KatzEye, Jenbunny, pokemon-35055, UdUnNoMe, and inknamida.

Jewelle2: I know what you are going to say, and I'm working towards that (as in the next chappie) but one _itty bitty, tiny_ _little_ detail had to be taken care of first.

Auxana : The Wind. . . that's my little secret right now ;) This is definitely not the end and I'll accept bribes at any time. I LOVE POCKY!

KeyToExistence: LOL, I'm glad you're happy. I wanted this to be out sooner but I had to figure out things

Easy-Company-506/101: It's a good idea but at the same time it's too easy and quick. But defiantly something to work with…

female half - breed: I'm not exactly sure what you mean about chapter six. I'll take a look again.

ty-maica : I know, I know. Just wait and I'll see what damage I can do to your perception of Story!Snape.

meetingreality: . . . (reads book 6 and thinks _Oh Shit_) I do love Dumbledore:( WAH!

angelic demon hunter : NO! NOT THE WHITE ARROW:) LOL


	13. Block

**Untried Guardians  
**_By Sqweakie the Wonder Mouse_

_I promised myself and all of you…_

**

* * *

Chapter Thirteen – Block **

_Block 1. A solid piece, as of wood, with one or more flat sides  
__2. A piece of substance that is prepared for engraving  
__3. An obstacle, hindrance  
__4. An act of obstructing or hindering  
__5. Interruption, esp. obstruction of a normal physiological function  
__**6. A bitch of a thing that stops your writing and may take years to cure!  
**_

* * *

A couple weeks later… 

They worked long into the night, Snape often surviving on coffee and Ron sleeping in the classes he could get away with it. The Guardians were proving to be a unique challenge. Their progress could only be described as scary. It started after their trip to Diagon Alley (and after Inuyasha cut off all his hair, startling Poppy the next morning when she checked on them). Once Kagome found her wand and Inuyasha got a staff into hand hands, they absorbed the teachings at an alarming rate. Where it took months of bookwork and preparation for first-years to learn Wingardium Leviosa, the Guardians did it in two hours. Give either of them a book and a little time and one could just stand back to watch the magic happen.

That didn't mean there weren't any problems while Ron taught them magic and the life associated with that power. Kagome tended to get frustrated on certain occasions (just like any normal person) but instead of an emotional outburst, you got explosions…literally. She was the female equivalent of Seamus Finnigan. He lost count in those first weeks of how many times she blew up that one special vase in the living room. The poor piece of porcelain was removed to the bedroom (where it only exploded once every couple of days instead of multiple times a day).

Inuyasha also had a temper, growling and snapping the first few times Ron tried to correct a mistake in bookwork or spell casting. Not to say that progress wasn't made. In three weeks they quickly caught up to the first years (who had months ahead of them) and had learned a small range of spells beyond the first-years. Yasha progressed slightly faster than his female counterpart, but he bitched and complained more and still tried to sneak out to search for his damned sword. Multiple incidents where Snape caught him outside of their rooms caused the teachers to raise heavy wards around their room and, Ron assumed, the sword's hiding place.

Tonight (late mind you, long past curfew) Ron and the Guardians inhabited the smaller bedroom of the apartment, Ron's voice starting to grow horse from talking. Looking around the room, the second bedroom should have belongs to Yasha or Kagome but instead they opted to share the main bedroom. The extra space became a practice room where spells could be practiced and lessons taught. This room was their favorite spot to read and for Ron to teach. Mostly, they sat on cushions on the floor or on the padded bench by the window. The window itself made a beautiful backdrop, a wonder of stain glass depicting a mountainous countryside, a glass landscape that continued into the main living area on the other side of the wall.

They sat in their usual spots, Inuyahsa with his back against the bench running under the window, Kagome nearby and Ron sitting across from her, Inuyash to his right. Kagome listened attentively, hands stroking her etched wand like one would pet a cat. Yasha didn't seem to be listening, his eyes closed, his 'wand' twirling between his fingers. He figured out a neat little trick, turning his large and noticeable staff into an ordinary wand, the golden wood appearing just as normal as any other wand and immediately developed the habit of playing with it when not otherwise occupied.

Ron ignored the wand twirling, knowing even though Inu appeared to ignore him, he was absorbing everything Ron said. The redhead once made the mistake of assuming the half demon wasn't listening and made a slightly derogatory remark against him. That ended with him flat on his back, pinned against the floor with a clawed hand gripping his neck a little too tightly. Snape had let this go on until the claws drew blood and only _then_ did he intervene. It taught Ron to be a little more careful and to never assume the hanyou was oblivious to things going on around him.

This particular lesson would be the first time the Guardians would try their hand at transfiguration. Three long weeks ago they started with bookwork and then practicals in charms, defense and potions. Ron slowly added subjects as the Guardians absorbed the knowledge at that alarming pace he already alluded to. Both human girl and hanyou boy forgot little and once they got the result from a spell or potion, they could easily duplicate the results.

For the most part Ron worked alone with the Guardians. Snape gave him the lesson plans and occasionally gave him tips for the lessons but otherwise left Ron alone to teach his own way. Still, the git walked in lessons, no warning and no announcing his presence, just walking up behind them and startling Ron. That resulted in a lot of swearing and humiliation for the Gryffindor and more than once he had jumped in surprise. Inuyasha found this hilarious and made Kagome promise not to warn him of the Potion Master's approaches.

With one last burst of energy, Ron finished his lecture, voice raw from talking so long. He had Kagome and Yasha summon their Transfiguration books from across the room and instructed them to read the chapter describing their first transfiguration: turning needles into matchsticks. With them now reading (Kag willingly and Yasha under protest) Ron closed his eyes and relaxed in the sea of pillows. Resting, he was glad Snape wasn't here. He saw that man (and the Guardians) more than his friends nowadays outside of class.

The only time he saw Harry was when the boy was asleep in his bad when Ron crawled back from the exhausting lesson with the Guardians and the never-ending homework which he just gave in and did in Kag and Yasha's rooms. He saw even less of his sister and Hermione. Meals were often taken by himself in the Great Hall because the others were often busy with their Aide duties, catching meals in the professors' offices as they helped with grading papers, preparing for lessons or catching a quick nap since they got as little sleep as Ron.

Ginny practically lived in McGonagall's office and could often be seen with the woman, jotting down whatever the professor was telling her as they traveled the hallways. Hermione was constantly covered in dirt, smelling of earth and all those outdoor smells both good and bad. She spent hours working with Professor Sprout, mostly physical labor, doing tasks that her book smarts could help her little with.

Harry had the bad luck of having a free period during _both_ first year charms classes. He helped tutor the younger students, helped the charms teacher demonstrate during classes or researched for Flitwick. The couple times Ron searched the library for a book for the lessons he taught he could find Harry there, filling the void Hermione left in the space since her punishment left her in the greenhouses most of the time.

"Ron," someone called his name and shook his shoulder. Not realizing he had fallen asleep, he uncurled and sat up, the blanket that had appeared since he drifted off slipping to the floor.

"I wouldn't have woken you," Kagome apologized, "but your hands are bleeding again."

Ron bit back a curse as he lifted his hand, skin gaping anew and blood seeping out. He hand left his hand unwrapped for once and blood stained the pillows and his shirt, a larger amount than he thought. Normally, Inuyasha would pick up the scent of blood in the air rather quickly.

Kagome scooted closer and gently gripped his hands, purple light engulfing them. The constant ache subsided and he breathed out a thanks. He stoop up to head for the bathroom, planning to wrap his hands, and promptly ran into Snape. The man grabbed his shoulder to hold him steady as blood soaked his teacher's shirt where Ron had instinctively grabbed during the collision. Kagome's magic (or ability if you wanted to call it that) took away the pain for a time but it no longer stopped the bleeding, as evident by the spreading crimson stains on Snape's pristine white shirt.

The professor looked from the red stain to Ron's rapidly paling face. Without warning, he picked up the boy and deposited him onto a couch in the living room. Ron felt his stomach roll in embarrassment at the treatment. He didn't bother to struggle or complain because he knew and Snape knew he was two steps from fainting.

"At least you have the manners to do this outside of class this time," the Potions Master grumbled while situating him on the couch, placing a pillow under his knees. The last fainting spell happened during Care of Magical Creatures and Hagrid ended up carrying him all the way to the hospital wing, Harry and Hermione following them all the way.

Pomphrey, Dr. Tajiri and Snape deduced, because of his 'delicate state', the ritual and cursed cuts affected him worse than they initial thought. The spontaneous bleeding and syncope episodes would continue for a long time and only muggle means could help him. He threw up the blood replenishing potions they tried and magicked bandages burned his hands when applied, limiting what they could do to help.

Kagome and Yasha followed Snape out of the practice room and as Snape stepped back the miko filled his spot, cleaning his hands. He could hear the microwave running in the kitchen, probably heating up instant ramen for the half demon.

"How are you feeling?" Kagome asked as she worked on his left hand, mopping up the fresh blood and scrubbing at the dried.

"Tired and dizzy again. Shit, I am so tire of this!" This feeling was right up there with one of his allergic reactions to magic on his list of things he wished never to feel again.

Kagome nodded as she continued to work. The potions master appeared behind her just as she finished. Professionally, he wrapped Ron's hand in yards of white gauze, cocooning them tightly to stop the bleeding.

"So does this mean we're done?" Inuyasha mumbled around a mouthful of ramen. Kagome and Snape looked equally disgusted and Ron's stomach rolled at the sight.

"How far did you get?" Snape asked, still sneering at the hanyou's bad manners.

"We just finished reading and were moving onto the practical," Kagome said quickly when Yasha opened his mouth to answer, half-chewed ramen visible to everyone.

The potion master threw one last disgusted look at the hanyou before waving his hand, clearing away everything in the general vicinity except the coffee table and Ron's couch. With a strange word and a snap of his fingers, needles appeared on the table. Kagome and Inuyasha caught on, settling themselves on the floor at opposite ends of the coffee table while Snape settle between them and across from Ron so he could keep an eye on the three teens.

Snape could be a patient teacher when in the mood Ron discovered early on. With only two students (three if Ron joined in) he had their undivided attention and actually explained things. He could watch them all at once, a feat he couldn't accomplish with a class of twenty plus students, and the small number gave him control.

This night he demonstrated first, carefully enunciating the Latin words for the Japanese students. He had them practice without wands, correcting pronunciations as needed, then he explained the wand movements just as carefully. Ron watched without a word, curled up on his side, bandaged hands tucked up under his chin. He enjoyed the peace, idly wishing Snape could act like that in his potions class. The great-greasy-one wasn't that different, not a perfect teacher with infinite patience. He still yelled in these private lessons if they did something stupid, especially during the potions he supervised. But, once he calmed down a touch, the professor _explained_ what went wrong, answering the ever curious Kagome's inquiries. What he told them made sense, scarily enough, and Ron already applies that knowledge to his class.

Ron watched with that light-headed daze he always got during a syncope episode (whether he actually fainted or not). Yasha picked up his wand first, starting on the incantation, being corrected sternly by Snape as he attempted to turn his needle into a match. Snape then motioned Kagome to try it and for a long time the repetitive chorus of the magical words filled the room, periodically broken by the professor's sharp comments.

This was normal with the first time the Guardians tried something new. One just had to be patient to see the results. Inuyasha had the first success this time. True, his matchstick still had a eye in one end but it appear to be a real match. Snape took it and struck it on the table. A small flame burned merrily and Yasha smirked with triumph.

"Acceptable," Snape drawled out, "but not perfect. Do it again." Again the air filled with Latin and varied success. Inuyasha slowly perfected his matches, coming closer with each attempt.

Kagome, on the other hand, had yet to make her needle even twitch. She tried again and again, til she let out a small sound of frustration and a lamp shattered in response. The three males in the room stared, all surprised a the outburst.

"I can't do this," she said, all but throwing down her wand in self disgust.

"Try again," Snape ordered coolly, eyes narrowed. She sent him her own glare before turning her gaze to the innocent needle. She tried over and over again, each time Snape watching her, eyes intent on the witch.

Finally, he stopped her and asked her to perform a simple Wingardium Leviosa on the needle. Without effort, the sliver of metal rose to eye level. Snape snatched it out of the air, turning it into a match with a single flick of his wand. He looked from match to Kagome, analyzing both.

"I will consult with Professor McGonagall but it looks like you have a block."

"A block? What does that mean?" she asked, confused.

"You explain, Mister Weasley. I'll be right back." With that, the potions master left the room and the Guardians looked at him for an answer.

"A block is a mental inability to do something. My friend, Harry, well, he had one last year. He couldn't do a spell, Accio. He had to practice it over and over again to get past the block and perform the spell."

"How did he cure it?" Kagome asked, curiosity overriding her frustration.

"Well, this Death Eater in disguise got him entered into the Tri-wizard Tournament, a competition, and Harry had to learn to summon his broom because he was going up against a dragon."

"What good would a broom be against a dragon?" Inuyasha asked snidely, not impressed..

"He could fly on it," he said without thinking about it. Kagome's dumbfound expression brought out the first smile on Ron's face all night.

"You fly…on brooms," her statement came out with wonder.

"Yep," he answered, grin even wider.

"That's lame," Yasha stated.

"Ignore him," she waved in the hanyou's direction. "he doesn't like to be impressed by anything besides the size of his own ego."

"Feh," was his comeback.

Ron snorted, holding back laughter. Luckily, Snape returned before the bickering could escalate any further. Behind him trailed McGonagall, hair freed from its customary bun and a tartan robe covering her nightclothes.

"Hi Professor McGonagall," Ron said from the cough, not bothering to stand like the Guardians did when they noticed the two professors. The woman seemed surprised to see him there but quickly fell into teacher mode, ordering them to take their seats and to demonstrate the spell. She was mildly impressed by Inu's matches, causing the demon to smirk while Kagome glared at him. The miko took her turn, trying again to produce a result.

"You could be right, Severus. That's enough, dear," she said, stilling Kagome's twitching wand with her hand. "It's your first time transfiguring an object. It could take days or weeks for there to be a result. You can keep practicing _tomorrow_, but don't overdo it." Kagome nodded, eyes glaring death at the silver needle on the table.

Inuyasha leaned over and whispered something in his fellow guardian's ear. Proverbial flames shot up and she yelled "I'm going to kill you!" but when she lunged to attack, Yasha was just a white streak heading for the bedroom. The miko was not far behind when an "Osuwari" and a crash reverberated through the apartment.

Snape sneered at the display of immaturity before biding them a goodnight and leaving. McGonagall hung back before kneeling next to Ron.

"How are you?" she asked in concern, mirroring Kagome's question not a hour ago.

"Sick of this happening," he told her. She grimaced in sympathy.

"Do you need to go to the hospital wing?"

"No, I'll just stay her tonight," Ron smiled in gratitude at the Head of his House.

"If you are sure…"

He nodded, understanding her worry. Four adults and two guardians in the castle knew of his secret, of the disease that cursed him since he was a small child. They didn't know if the complications from the ritual made him weaker and sick or if this was just the natural progression of his disease, but they all worried.

Even the people not privy to his secret notice the change since the last new moon, noticing how pale he became and the dizzy and fainting spells were kind of hard to miss. The worst were Fred and George, both picking up on his weakness and worrying like a pair of red mother hens, not to mentions what his close friends felt when they stole a couple of minutes together between classes. None of them could begin to guess how sick he actually was, which made it worse.

McGonagall stayed long enough to tuck a blanket over him and ruffle his hair in a maternal gesture before she retired to her own room. He fell asleep before she could close the door, missing the worried look the professor cast in his direction, already wrapped in the peacefulness of sleep.

_

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AN: I promised myself and all of you, faithful readers, that I would write this. It's a little short and very late but here it is, after a dozen restarts and a flash of inspiration on Sunday while I was cleaning cassettes at work. Its a small chapter that hopefully will get things moving. Tell me what you think... _

_Thank you all so, so much through the long wait and everything that's happened in the past year and a half._

_Thank you especially to: _MiaRose 156, Kaikura, Jenbunny, inknamida, WinterBlossom, Jewelle2, Inuyasha's hun, A victom of Time, QueenTatooine, CTHKSI, Neko-hanyou05, meetingreality, Trigger Happy Bibliophile, KatzEye, darkmystriss1717, Inuyasha's Girl and Kikyou hater, HPcoldfire, LadyPirate54, Youkai Shenron, yllom21, Curtis, ShianeCollins, Twisted Truth, Ai and Hai, darkfeather22, Airemir, animesweetness173, Niana Kuonji, reina, and EvilFaerie1...** and to all those who read this, saved it as a favorite, added it to their C2 and in general have waited and insanely long time for me to update.**


	14. Untitled

**Title**: Untried Guardians  
**Author:** Sqweakie

_AN: This is the chapter that gave me trouble. I still am not happy with it but I need to move beyond this and get on with the rest of the story.  
_

_

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_

**Chapter Fourteen **

_Mama,_

_I hope you are alright, and that Souta and Grandfather are as well. Things didn't go according to plan and this is the first time I've been able to contact you...  


* * *

_

Inuyasha tugged at the tie, cursing any manner of demigods that had devised this new torture. The 'teachers' not only made him wear an insane amount of unpractical clothing including a robe, they made him wear shoes.

"Stop that," Kagome scolded, slapping his hands away and straightening his tie and smoothing the lapel of his robe. They stood in a deserted hallway, Ron snickering off to the side. Again, his fingers inched up to loosen the strangling material and again Kagome stopped him.

"I swear I'm going to you-know-what you into next week if you don't leave that alone. It is part of your school uniform and you are going to wear it."

The half-demon 'feh'ed and turned away but his hands remained safely away from the offending tie.

The outfit made him look tame, something Kagome could not have envisioned. Black slacks, white dress shirt, the afore mentioned tie and shoes all half-covered by a plain black robe. They had forced her into the same type of getup, substituting a skirt for the slacks.

"So what can you tell us about the teacher?" she asked Ron when his snickering finally died down.

"Professor Flitwick is the charms professor. He's also the head of the Ravenclaw house, not that it means much to you guys. He's pretty fair, a little on the short side but wicked good with spells. Right now he's teaching first year Gryffindores and Hufflepuffs."

The door opened, interrupting Ron, and a dark haired boy slipped out into the hallway. He was dressed just like the rest of them minus the ridiculously unpractical robe. He sagged in relief when he caught sight of Ron.

"Ron! Please tell me you're here for a prison break!"

"They're first years, Harry," the redhead asked with a smile. "How bad can they be?"

"You mean between the hero worship and the attempts at spells," and here the boy shuddered. "I'm going to go Insane. The only good thing is that none of them are like Seamus was in our first year."

"Hate to break it to you but I found the female version."

"I'm not really that bad," she apologized at his horrified look. "It only happens when I try to transfigure something."

He didn't look convinced, slumping against the door, face too pale. "Sure you don't have an elaborate escape attempt?"

He didn't wait for an answer, just sighed and opened the door. A voice summoned them in and reluctantly Kagome dragged Inuyasha behind her.

"Class, I want to introduce you to our newest students. The young woman is Yokiko Kagome Kane and the young man behind her is Seiko Higurashi."

_

* * *

I can't tell you exactly where we are. All I can say is that we are safe at a special school in Scotland... _

* * *

After class Ron's friend, Harry, led them to their next class, History. They were surprised to find Ron waiting along with a frizzy-haired girl. They were even more surprised to see other teenagers closer to their own age filter into the room.

"I thought we'd be stuck with the runts for all our classes," Inuyasha sneered as he dropped into an open seat.,

"For this class it really doesn't matter, not like you learn anything in here," Ron said, clumsily pulling out a book and a pen. The girl looked affronted at the comment and sniffed before turning her attention to the 'transfer students'.

"I'm Hermione Granger," she introduced herself, holding out a slightly dirty hand. Kagome reached over and gripped it gently before letting go.

"I'm Yokiko Kane but I go by Kagome."

"Inuyasha," the hanyou stated, pointedly ignoring the outstretched hand.

"That's just his nickname," she told the other girl, glaring at the person in question before turning her attention back. "His real name is Seiko Higurashi."

"Okay," Hermione nodded. "If I may ask, why do you go by 'Kagome' if your name is Yokiko?"

"I was named after my grandmother, who my parents thought was dying at the time. She ended up getting better and lived for another ten years after I was born. It got confusing with two Yokikos so my parents started calling me by my middle name. I've gone by it ever since but since all my paperwork says Yokiko I introduce myself as such."

_

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I also can't tell you how we ended up there and due to circumstances we can't leave just yet..._

* * *

By supper word had spread that the two mysterious transfer students had finally shown their faces. Yasha was practically growling at his food and she could feel the hundreds of pairs of eyes boring straight into her back.

Ron also was shifting self-consciously, hand twitching around his fork, cursing when it slipped out of his grasp again.

"Can we go now?" Yasha snarled, his word clipped and sounding like he was one shepherd's pie away from mauling something. Kagome set down her own utensils and looked at the redhead. Ron nodded and pushed the plate away.

"I guess we could go look at the library before we have to turn in for the night." He stood up and they followed him out of the Great Hall, past the staring students and the candles floating in mid air and away from everyone. It was quiet once they got out into the halls, everything darker during the night. They made their way through the maze of hallways and staircases to a set of heavy doors at the end of a corridor.

The air itself felt different walking into the library. The oppressive feel of magic lifted away in the large space lit by twilight and lanterns. Rows upon rows of books led away from the main doors, tempting them away from the hall.

They followed Ron into the maze of shelves that pressed around her. She finally found relief when they reached the far end of the room and the large windows bracket by heavy curtains. The view of the school grounds was impressive, open green spaces and some sort of sports arena stretched out below, so different than the mountains showcased in their rooms in the Teachers' Wing.

Ron mentioned that he had to find a book for class and that they should feel free to peruse the shelves. She thanked him as he vanished back into the room. Inuyasha just snorted and dropped into a chair, ignoring the wealth of knowledge that pressed around them.

Kagome on the other hand took the suggestion to heart and began her own search. Subjects written on faded parchment labels jumped out at her: Secrets: How to Keep Them, Flying, Arithmancy for Advanced Students, Quidditch, each title causing her to pause before moving on.

Finally she stopped among tomes about potions and ingredients, a faded blue book catching her attention from a high shelf. She reached for it but an arm reached past her and stole it from her. Turning around, she began to ask for it back but stopped when a boy, a hairs breath taller and standing far too close for comfort, leered down at her. He glanced at the title, gray eyes skimming across Uncommon Healing Potions for Common Ailments with indifference.

"Can I have that book please," she asked when it was clear that he wasn't going to say anything. She tried to ignore the discomfort caused by the blond teen standing so close to her. He stared at her for a length of time before finally speaking.

"My, you're polite for a mudblood. I'm Draco Malfoy and you are?" he trailed off, waiting for her to finish the sentence.

"Yokiko Kane. Now that we know who each other is, can you give me back the book?"

"I don't see your name on it," he said, sarcasm and his proximity making her skin crawl. She huffed and decided that one book in an entire library of books was not worth the creepy vibes she was getting from the blond.

"Fine, you must need it much more than me," she said, stepping to the side so she could get away from the creep. AN arm shot out, blocking her path and putting him back into her personal space.

"I'm not done talking to you yet," he said suggestively, leaning closer to the miko.

"And I think you are," a voice growled before the blond was pushed away. Some one slid an arm around her waist and she relaxed slightly into Inuyasha's familiar grip.

The other boy jerked away and sneered before leaving with a huff. Ron passed the other boy on his way to him, questions in his face as he noticed Yasha's possessive arm around her waist. Her skin still crawled and she wondered if she had looked at the boy with her miko senses would she had seen any taint on the blond.

"Let's get out of her," she said, preempting any questions or comments from the other two. "I just want to get out of here."

_

* * *

Please let me know how you are all doing, I will also include instructions on how to send me a letter once I find out, and Yasha says hi. _

_Love,  
Kagome_

She lifted the quill off the paper and sprinkled some powder to dry the last wet spots of ink. Carefully she folded it up and gave it to Professor Snape so he could send it on its way. Once he was gone she began to cry, missing her mother and Souta, missing Miroku and Sango and Shippou and missing home, both the one in the present and the one in the past.


	15. Transform

**AN:**** I did this once before in one of my stories and I did it again. ****THIS IS NOT A DEAD STORY!  I never should write author notes when I'm tired and/or sick because they either turn out incoherent or they come across completely different than what I mean. I may redo Chapter 14 one day but I an definitely not done writing this story even though it seemed that way by the last chapter's author note. I just re-read that chapter and finally realized how that note sounded. I am so sorry! **

**

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Untried Guardians  
By: Sqweakie  
**

Crossoverwith Harry Potter and Inuyasha  
HP: AU after Goblet of Fire (Harry and company's 5th year)  
IY: AU set at Two Years after the Shichinin-tai Story Arc

**Rating: **PG-13

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**Chapter Fifteen: Transform**

_**Transform**_

_transitive verb **1 a** **:** to change in composition or structure **b** **:** to change the outward form or appearance of **c** **:** to change in character or condition **:** convert  
**2** **:** to subject to mathematical transformation  
**3** **:** to cause (a cell) to undergo genetic transformation_

_intransitive verb **:** to become transformed **:** change  
_

Late November brought the first vestiges of snow to Northern Scotland. Inuyasha became more restless as the weeks inched along. Despite that, he and Kagome both settled into a routine; drifting between first, second, and now third year classes they continued to learn. Slowly the other students warmed up to the displaced miko and hanyou. Kagome developed bonds with some older Hufflepuff students along with Ron and a couple of his Gryffindor friends. Somehow Inuyasha tolerated a small group of Slytherins and, surprisingly, Ravenclaw students. On any given day the pair could be found at any of the four house tables. That garnered strange looks from the more house-loyal students and it spurred Kagome in to asking Ron one evening why it was sacraligious to sit where ever they wanted. He just twitched and mumbled something about housemates sticking together and she was forced to drop the subject.

It was one of those cold November mornings that found Kagome sliding through the slush to an isolated courtyard adjacent to the teachers' wing. Pieces of canvas stretched across transfigured bales of hay created a ragged row of targets. Standing in the ankle deep snow and ice, she took a steadying breath before pulling out the first arrow from its quiver. The soft thud of wood and metal striking its target broke the silence.

Losing herself to the motions, she spent the entire quiver into the makeshift targets. After two more rounds of ordinary arrows she tightened her control and added her spirit energy. Loud cracks shot across the frozen courtyard as the purifying arrows burned into the targets, their holy light creating strange shadows that dance around the area. Again and again she shot at the targets, the familiar movements missed so much in her exile to this strange, magical school.

A startled gasp broke her concentration. Spinning around, one of her few remaining arrows pointed straight at the heart of the transfiguration teacher. Letting out a tense breath she eased the tension on the bow and pointed the arrowhead towards the ground.

"That was incredible," the woman said as she pushed back dark locks of hair. Professor McGonagall huddled in a robe against the sun-splashed wall. More time had pass than Kagome was aware of, judging by the sun's higher position in the sky, high enough to throw light over the walls.

"If you think that's great, you should see what Inuyasha can do with a sword, Professor."

A masculine snort drew her attention away from the female teacher and to the shadowed entryway into the courtyard and the equally dark wizard leaning against the door.

"Are you going to whine about that damned hunk of metal too?" Snape hissed as he stepped into the morning sunlight, pale skin shimmering with the light reflecting off the snow and emanating from Kagome's still lit arrow.

"No, just stating a fact, Sir," she said as she turned away and buried the burning shaft into the center of another unfortunate target. "I'm sorry to have disturbed you but I haven't had a chance to practice my archery skills. I'm afraid I'm a little rusty."

"It's alright," McGonagall soothed. "Just don't stay out here too long. Today is a Hogsmeade day, something you don't want to miss."

Kagome ignored the ever sarcastic snort from Snape in favor of burying her last two arrows into separate targets. She made her way across the treacherous ground to retrieve the arrows.

"How does one get to … Hogsmeade," she almost tripped over both the unfamiliar word and the slick ground. Behind her she could hear the small movements of the other adults.

"There is a path from the castle to the village," Snape finally volunteered. "Since I will _regrettably_ be busy and staying behind in the castle, I suggest you go with Minerva. I trust she will attempt to keep you out of trouble."

By the end of the sarcastic comment she had traversed the dangerous ground and made it to the hay bales. She twisted the arrows out and made her way back inside with the others, muscles in arms and back burning pleasantly from the exercise. The teachers two bid her a good day and left in different directions, Snape's slightly nasty comment about not needing to smell sweaty, smelly teenagers echoed down the hall as he left.. The professor was unfortunately right; she needed a shower, even if to just warm up before heading back outside for the rest of the day and the trip outside the school. It wasn't as nice as being able to go back to Japan but at least they would be able to leave the school grounds for the first time since they had appeared in the strange school and their lives changed.

oOo

The Hogsmeade village felt surreal to Kagome. It reminded her of the villages in Feudal Japan in the way that they felt primitive and quaint compared to the modern era. It looked nothing like those old Japanese villages but the atmosphere was comparable. Small shops and houses crowded the main road through the town as children and teenagers darted in and out of the various buildings, turning the snow on the ground to a muddy brown. Fresh flakes danced out of the sky and older wizards and witches hunched their shoulders against the cold and the shrieks of joyful children.

Kagome pulled her plain black cloak closer as they made their way to the sweet shop Ron recommended. She held off a sigh as she listened to her companion complain about the overcrowded streets and the strange smells permeating the air. Inushasha's short, dark hair ruffled with the sharp breeze, the hanyou unwilling to raise his hood for protection. She still was weirded out by the short length but it hadn't grown since he had cut it and slowly it was becoming familiar.

They had stopped at every store to look at the various goods. It was almost like a miniature version of Diagon Alley, shops lining one central road advertising books and goodies and things a student at a boarding school might be interested in. She could see other buildings and houses beyond the main street, quieter areas that made it feel a little less stifling that the counterpart street in London. During the entire time Inuyasha slouched and muttered and walked along next to her, refusing to help carry the couple of packages she had purchased even as he had no trouble helping himself to the candy she bought.

"So what do you really think about the place?" she teased lightly in Japanese, even as his body telegraphed his displeasure at being in the village.

He snorted and growled out low, "Something feels wrong."

She nodded, she had also felt the vague uneasiness trying to chipping away at the festive mood encircling them. The feeling crept on the edge of her consciousness and it made her unnerved and missing her bow and Miroku and Sango. Yasha sniffed the air, fists clenching and unclenching. The feeling grew when they left Honeydukes for the second time, having returned after the two of them had inadvertently eaten the candy they bought for Ron. This time Inuyasha pulled up his hood, shielding his face.

It was the screams spun them around in shock. Loud, horrified screams, too familiar caused the adrenaline to surge and for them to sprint towards the sound. At the far end of the street figures in black fired into the crowd causing explosions and sending bodies scattering.

Her body trembled slightly as instinct from a hundred different fights took over. With a careless word, Inuyasha's wand transformed, growing into a long staff. He stabbed it into the side of a wooden crate outside of a grocer's store before he ran into the fight. She grabbed at the transfigured wood, finding a dark bow and a quiver of black-feathered arrows waiting for her. Throwing back half her cloak she pulled the quiver over her shoulder and drew back one of the black arrow. It buried itself into a masked man fifteen feet away.

She lost sight of Inuyasha as he rushed around a corner, his cloak's color bleeding from black into a bright silver as he disappeared. She didn't spare a second thought as another masked figure pointed his wand at her. She hurled herself to the ground as an angry red light shot above her, cutting through the space she had just occupied. Bow pinned beneath her, she pulled her wand out and shouted "Locomotor Mortis", dropping him to the ground. They both struggled to stand, Kagome just slightly quicker and she buried and arrow in his leg before he was able to raise his wand fully for a second attack. Collapsing to the ground, the man curled up and it gave her enough time to snag his wand and snap it, throwing it to the side before a wizard came up to her side. He shouted and pointed his wand, ropes flying out of the end and tying up the man she had shot. She spared a breath for a quick thanks before she ran in the direction she had last seen the hanyou.

She made it a little ways before coming up on a woman, mask half-shattered and standing in front of a group of terrified students. Kagome found herself pointing with her own wand and yelling Relashio . The woman dodged the bright sparks of the attack but it gave her enough time to pull out an arrow with her finger and thumb, firing quickly . She winged the woman, arrow slicing through her sleeve and causing a small spurt of blood to stain the snow. The woman cursed and brought up her wand up again.

Kagome shot a second arrow, missing this time when a spell passed too close to her face, causing her to flinch. Her hand darted out, pointing her pale wand. "_Incarcerous_ " dropped the woman to the ground, ropes coiling around her torso and limbs. Her way clear for the moment, she ran to the students huddled in the shadows of a store.

"Are you alright?" she asked in a soft voice. They all nodded and she ushered them up, pausing only to fire another black arrow into the shoulder of the woman she had tied up, the same woman who somehow freed herself and how had a moment ago raised her wand to attack. This time the woman fell yelling and cursing but she didn't get up and Kagome was able to grab the fallen wand as the whole group rushed past.

She pushed the children into a side street, scanning the thinned crowed with her eyes and miko senses. Death hovered the the far end so she pushed her charges into the bookstore that was nearby. A couple sixth or seventh year Hufflepuffs greeted her with raised wands ready to attack. Seeing her shielding the younger students, they shepherded the group inside and Kagome re-entered the battle in the street.

This time she was able to find Inuyasha, dashing around the fallen bodies and debris. She caught sight of him just outside the town where fields provided a barrier between Hogsmeade and the forest. As she ran his hand struck out, claws tearing at one masked man's arm. Two others fired spells at him but he just shrugged off the attacks, unaffected by the magic.

She dropped one man with an arrow in the side and Yasha struck with the staff clutched in his right hand, light flaring around the wood as he struck one of the masked attackers. They both dropped and Inuyasha jumped over them, landing near to Kagome. She asked if he was alright, if he was hurt but she was unable to hear the answer as his voice was drown out by new shouting. The both looked towards the right, towards the yelling and finally she was able to make out one word shouted over and over.

"Dementors! Dementors!"

Kagome surged forward and took her place at Inuyasha's side as they sprinted up a small hillock to see where the wizards were pointing to, to see the dark figured approaching the town. They were different than the masked human, rotted clothing fluttering around as they floated a couple feet above the ground. Around them rushed pale, ghost-like animals that unerringly found and attacked the dark, cloaked figures that felt so different, so utterly wrong.

She could feel their cold leeching heat from her skin and old memories slithered and darted up, trying to distract her. She took a steadying breath and looked with her miko senses. Color all but disappeared from her world, throwing everything into sterile blacks and whites. The ghost animals glowed pure while the cloaked creatures pulsed black and tainted purple. Around her lines of gray connected wizards to other wizards and wizards to animals, their spells crisscrossing the air.

Inuyahsa pushed back the gray cloak, freeing his arms. He settled into a familiar stance, raising his staff at the dark creatures. Kagome braced herself and knocked another arrow, purified air swirling around and teasing the hem of her cloak. Without a word between them, they struck. He swung his staff and somehow his demon blood and magic created he windscar, tearing up the ground and cloaked figures alike. Those spared by his attack were struck down by Kagome and her bow, small arrows darting over the carnage and picking off the 'dementors' one by one. She remained on the rise when Yasha rushed down, his cloak rippling behind, feral grin hidden within the shadows of his hood.

In minutes it was over. They destroyed the last of the cloaked creatures and those behind her stopped shouting spells and started shouting for help. She made her way down, stumbling over the furrowed ground. The danger was passed. She knew it, not exactly sure how but the thought was true. She continued without pausing until she reached the hanyou at the bottom of the hill to the flat ground. Inuyasha stood alone in the field, shreds of black cloth and pure snow fluttering in the faint breeze. She opened her mouth to call out but it was not his name that escaped her lips.

"Guardian."

He spun around, just as surprised at his responding to the title as she was for speaking it. He stood tall, the almost silver cloak dancing around his bare feet. They stared at one another for a long time before he said a single word.

"Shit," he cursed succinctly as he looked around at the mess of the field, smoke starting to fill the air, at them standing in the middle of the mess. She could totally agree there.

"I guess we are the Guardians now," she whispered as he shrunk his staff and secreted it under his cloak. Her eyes trailed the battlefield one last time, looking and not finding any other dangers. He stepped up to her side for support… her partner, her fellow guardian.

"Shit," he cursed again, agreeing in his own way. Looking back over her should she could see men and women descending the hill, all wearing bright green cloaks and wandering all over the place. She slung her bow over he shoulder and stretched, leather creaking as her back popped.

She paused, arms stretched above her head.

_Leather..._

Slowly she lowered her arms. Her sweater, the comfy pink knit, no longer covered her upper body. Instead, white linen sleeves emerged from under a soft leather jerkin, small flowers delicately embroidered around the cuffs and trailing up to her elbows. Her wrists were encased in butter soft leather, gauntlets that encased her knuckles and disappeared under her sleeves. A hand pressed against her stomach, the leather here thicker, reminded her of leather armor she had seen in Japan.

"Umm…Inuyahsa," she asked, eyes transfixed on her hand where it rested against her abdomen.

"What?" he asked snidely. Her head jerked up and she finally took note of his clothes.

"You weren't wearing your fire rat robes this morning by chance, where you?" she asked cautiously.

"Are you stupid? They got left behind in Japan." Anger flared at his dismissive tone. She reached out and grabbed an arm, leather gauntlets contrasting nicely with his red sleeve. He said nothing, staring at their arms. He looked up, mouth opening and closing for a second, the only part that was visible. Suddenly his mouth dropped into a frown and he reached out.

"You're bleeding," he told her as he pushed her hood away from her face. Light and snowflakes dazzled her for a second as Yasha bit out a curse. She lifted her own hand and touched her cheek, fingers touching tacky blood. She reached into her pocket and luckily the change in her wardrobe didn't change the contents of her pockets. She pulled free a handkerchief that Inuyasha liberated and pressed hard against the side of her face.

"Did something try to take the side of your face off?" he asked as he pressed a little harder, making her flinch.

"It's just a scratch," she defended herself even though she had no idea how bad it was. Yasha scoffed a little at the comment.

"On me it would have been a scratch. Hell, Kagome! It runs down the entire side of your face. I don't know how it missed your eye."

She could feel her cheeks heat up with embarrassment, more so when she noticed exactly how close he was standing. The shadows cast by his hood seemed a little lighter this close up and she could swear she could see his eyes glittering and she wanted to see if he really was worried or if this was just part of his normal posturing.

Kagome reached up and pushed his hood off his head. She tried to step back, shock causing a flight-or-fight response. She only slid back a little ways before his free hand shot out and latched onto her shoulder, claws digging slightly into leather.

"What is it?" he demanded, trapping her while still putting pressure against the wound on her face. Her eyes focused on his, transfixed on their golden color. The eyes were the only thing stopping her from going into a full blown panic.

They stood still on the battlefield and he asked again. His eyes may have been their normal gold but the demon markings, the jagged lines cutting across his cheeks, where a very, very _bad _sign and she was scared.

* * *

_R&R_


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